


Lead me Through the Night

by Knightqueen



Series: Lead me Through the Night [2]
Category: Mercy (TV), Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Big Brothers, Brothers, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Gen, Ghosts, Little Brothers, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rating: PG13, Yancy Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2017-12-24 02:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 41,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightqueen/pseuds/Knightqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Circumstances change, but the message remains the same: The Jaeger Program is failing, and only a few believe it can still make a difference despite evidence to the contrary. What difference will a wayward Raleigh Becket and a "retired" Yancy Becket really make in the long run? </p><p>UPDATED November 13, 2014</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 001: White For your Start

**Disclaimer:** _Pacific Rim_ and all things related is property of Guillermo del Toro, Travis Beacham and Legendary pictures.

* * *

_They're getting shorter._

_What is?_

_The breaks. They're coming quicker, like the eggheads keep telling command. Our last one was only two months ago._

There were two ways a fight with a Kaiju go could; in the favor of the Kaiju or the favor of the Ranger piloting the Jaeger. The last four years they've fought together, things fell in their favor. It was a constant, one they were never raised to expect or become accustomed to. They weren't children, Yancy especially, but they were hardly at the prime of what some called self-aware and in complete agreement with what they signed up for.

_Ah, I don't think it's anything we have to worry about. Gipsy's got us covered._

_Kid-_

_Yeah, yeah, don't get cocky. I gotcha Hans Solo._

High emotion drove them through the doors of the Jaeger Academy and it was a single-minded goal, devotion to help others in an otherwise powerless situation, that kept them going when it appeared their instructors would rather enjoy breaking their backs and send them crawling out the door they came in. The weight of their decision, the ramifications of what they were doing really didn't hit either of them until Yancy's 25th birthday.

Sitting in the corner cubical of their old haunt in Anchorage, staring at the walls covered in newspaper clippings of Jaeger activity and PPDC articles; visiting the empty house they lived in once upon a time with their parents. It made an otherwise pair strapping young men feel old. Was this how soldiers felt? The life they once lived felt like a dream. To think they'd grown so used to walking in and out of the head of a giant robot was more than a little unnerving.

But so were giant monsters attacking cities.

What the hell were they going to do once this was fall over; if this was over in the conventional sense of the word?

Just above them they could hear the chatter of the fishermen on the _Saltchuck_ as they attempted to discern the moving mass of "land" heading toward them. Knifehead was moving rapidly toward their position and they'd only have a few moments to actually execute the plan. The coms remained off; what they were about to do, they didn't need Pentecost bellowing in their ear, demanding they proceed to plan.

Gipsy Danger's hull adjusted accordingly as they rose up from under the water; Yancy raised his hand upward above the digital projection of the boat. Gipsy Danger's hand bumped the belly of the ship, fingers closing ever so slightly around it. "Alright, Gipsy, it's showtime," He said, a smile creeping up on his face as his brother flexed his arm. The flood lights illuminated parts of the stormy sea around them. The heat signatures coming from the boat dictated elevated heart rates, but the men aboard was otherwise unharmed.

As soon as they were standing completely upright, anxiety and instinct kicked in like second nature. "Alright, get ready," Yancy warned. Raleigh moved in position before his brother finished his sentence. Gipsy Danger raised her arm in defense; Yancy cradled the boat in his hand as they moved ever so slowly backward.

All was silence for a moment. The hydraulics of the Conn-Pod tensed and relaxed as Gipsy Danger moved to rest the boat back in the water.

"Where is it?" Raleigh whispered.

The water around Knifehead parted as it emerged behind them. The tip of its head slashed Gipsy Danger's right side as its smaller arms wrapped around her waist. The Conn-Pod rattled from the blow, Raleigh and Yancy struggled to break free of its grasp.

"It's behind us!" The older Becket cried, more than a little concerned by the turn of events. He fought to keep his arm steady and his fingers loose against the violent shuttering that rattled Gipsy Danger's frame. If he so much as closed his fist he would kill the fishermen.

"No, shit, Yancy," Raleigh growled as he drove Gipsy's elbow back against the hard edge of Knifehead. The Kaiju barely flinched; it dragged its claw curled claws against the waistline of the Jaeger, peeling away whatever it hooked its claws into whatever it caught. "I've got an idea." His brother nodded as his intentions filtered through their connection. Raleigh punched a sequence of buttons on the control panel in no particular order.

\- Boosters Engaged -

The singsong voice of the Jaeger's A.I. chimed all around them. Yancy Kneeled with his brother, careful of his outstretched arm. Gipsy Danger's back roared to life, Knifehead screeched when it the heat from the propulsion began to burn away at its face. It shoved away from the Jaeger, its right hands moving to claw the burning skin from his face.

"Alright, we're free! Now!" Raleigh and Yancy stepped to the left and turned as they raised their right arm and thrust backward. Gipsy Danger moved against the tide of the sea, right arm raised. Knifehead drew its hands away from its face as the elbow came racing toward it. Whatever vision was left in its primary eye was shot; it burst on impact with the Jaeger's elbow. The Kaiju reeled from the pain that shot into the base of its skull and dunked its head in the water. A minor affliction compared to its face, but it made it no less bearable.

Yancy moved to set the _Saltchuck_ on the waters beside them, the ship glided across the water like a toy in a bathtub. It was barely the best minimum in safe distance, but they couldn't afford to keep it in hand. With the swing of his arm, Raleigh charged the Plasmacaster, Gipsy Danger's hand split apart in a rapid twirl, the center of the weapon rising from the palm like a stigma.

Knifehead righted itself, water rolling from its head as it stared the tin woman down with its good three eyes left. Thunder rolled overhead, lighting illuminated the arena for a moment and plunged them into darkness. One moment Knifehead was frozen, the next its arms are slashing wildly at the water as his legs propelled it toward them.

_Here it comes!_

Raleigh didn't miss a beat; Gipsy Danger aims straight and true in the maelstrom and fired the canon with extreme prejudice. The first blast hit the Kaiju's arm; it barely flinched and kept going. The second hit its exposed belly; it stumbled backward but kept moving. Yancy's concern hit Raleigh an instant, he watched as Yancy started to charge the right Plasmacaster, but he kept his focus. The shot hit the Kaiju square in the chest, the wound burned right through its thick hide, revealing muscle.

Knifehead's legs powered through the wave rising up against it and Gipsy Danger. The water curled and came crashing down around them. Lightning flashed again, Knifehead roared and seemed to take flight as it leapt across the water, its entire body poised for attack. Raleigh and Yancy could hear the desperate cries of the fishermen as they prayed the waters didn't swallow them up. At the same time, the monster came crashing down on the Jaeger.

Collisions were never smooth at the top of the Jaeger; the Conn-Pod shook and trembled like nothing they experienced. They were sent reeling backward and couldn't keep their balance despite being locked in place, everything from the inside out rattled. The hydraulics on the clamp hissed and rose upward to relieve undue pressure. Gipsy Danger brought its arms up toward its face, she caught Knifehead's extending jaw between her hands, it snapped viciously at them. Their harnesses went taut and froze in place, their arms locked as the alarms in the Jaeger began to fall back.

\- Maximum weight capacity breached. Please lose 2 to 2, 700 tons. Thank you -

The right Plasmacaster went off beside Knifehead's face; the Kaiju roared and broke free of their grasp, clamping on the Jaeger's shoulder with its teeth. An unceremonious scream escaped Yancy as the Kaiju's incisors sank deeper into the armor of the Jaeger. Gipsy Danger crashed against the water, the _Saltchuck_ was sent tail first out of the water. Its crew held on for dear life or fell into the water, not expecting to be pummeled by the body of their rescuer.

Gipsy Danger plummeted down into the water, Knifehead's tail and weight guiding faster toward the bottom. Throwing its head back it drilled the end of it head into the shoulder. Gipsy Danger's armor tore away on impact, the Kaiju's head breaching the back; Yancy cried out, arm trying in vain to tear away from the pain irradiating through his suit. Knifehead jerked its head to the left. Gipsy's hand thrust forward, clamping her fingers around the Kaiju's neck.

The tip of its head tore through the shoulder the same time Yancy ripped the loose skin from its neck. It cried out, Kaiju Blue billowing out around its mouth and the gaping wound underneath. Gipsy Danger's arm hung loose from its body, unable to do anything. Knifehead was only too happy to finish the job. Its incisors bit down on the Jaeger's arm again. The armor gave way against the pressure.

Gipsy's left arm fought against the hold the Kaiju had on her surviving limb. The canon began to arm itself as Knifehead pulled Gipsy's right arm away from her body. Yancy saw red. Every muscle in his body seized up as the receivers sent a million different signals from the Jaeger's right socket as the muscle strands were torn away. His arm was gone, her arm was gone. His mind was overflowing with confusion, Raleigh's fear and Gipsy's pain, all of it perceived as white noise. He could see the alarm flashing overhead, could feel his jaw stretched to its maximum, there was no sound that he could discern.

The alarms got louder as the A.I. began to calculate the damage. Raleigh watched the blueprint of Gipsy Danger go red as his arm began to swing.

_Yancy-!_

_Right arm severed. Weapons system at seventy percent. Core intact_. It was all Yancy could muster to think as he tried to reach for the control panel. Yancy grit his teeth against the sparking in his suit that burned down the right side of his back as he fell dependent on his left arm.

The right arm still twitching in its mouth, Knifehead released the appendage reared its head back. The tip came down on the neck of the Jaeger and collided with the flap protecting its neck. The Kaiju pulled away, irritated. The Conn-Pod groaned; the water pressure wasn't enough that crack the hull of the Jaeger, but both brothers flinched as Gipsy Danger's floodlights illuminated the bioluminious mouth of the Kaiju attempting to tear its way into Conn-Pod again.

\- Maximum weight capacity breached. Please -

"We know!" Yancy shouted.

\- lose 2 to 2, 700 tons. Thank you -

The Conn-Pod shook again, swinging them violently to the right from the unceremonious slap from one of Knifehead's free claws. The hull groaned. Yancy looked up and saw a single intention in the Pod above his position. Knifehead's tip came down on the flaps; they gave, tearing away from the back. The animated blueprint of Gipsy Danger illustrated the damage inflicted was growing by the second.

_I'm beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea._

_It'll be a bad idea if we don't get out of this alive, Raleigh!_ "Is the caster ready?"

"Yeah, but I can't get a clear shot at it-"

"Just shoot at whatever you can! I'm gonna try something-" Raleigh felt his heart skip in succession as he watched his brother access manual override for the nuclear reactor and the Plasmacaster.

\- Plasmacaster Overload. Are you sure you want to do this? -

_The reactor, are you crazy?_

_It's either that or we sink with her._

Yancy didn't waste a second hesitating. He confirmed the command and looked to his brother. "Alright, get ready." Gipsy Danger's heart burned bright in the murk of the water; Knifehead reared back and prepared to slash the Conn-Pod wide open. Gipsy Danger's hand unfurled, the youngest Becket raised his arm as far as the weight of the Kaiju would allow and squeezed.

The Plasmacaster lit up his side of Gipsy Danger's visor; blue and white mixed together as Knifehead's claw barreled through Conn-Pod. The Kaiju cried out, the proceeding blast burned through the sea, taking half its head with it. Its claw fixed itself between the two brothers and slashed at the back of the Jaeger's head.

Yancy threw his arms up on instinct, he felt the claw graze his side and cut through his armor like it was nothing. The left harness went limp, dropping him lower to the ground. Yancy cried out, Raleigh barely had seconds to witness the right harness being torn from the wall. Yancy went into a free fall toward the back of the Conn-Pod; his harness collided with the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him when he finally came to a stop. He fell forward as the water began rise around him.

Raleigh cried out as burning pain raced up his right side; the impact of the imbalance hit him immediately. His leg bent under the weight that was no longer being supported by the right hemisphere and he began to panic. "Yancy!" The Kaiju's claw twitched violently, Yancy, restricted by the harness could only look on and watch as it struggled to break free of the Pod's entrance. The wall behind him caved, the nail slicing through the hull of the Pod as it was pulled out. Yancy could do nothing except brace himself against the floor as water rushed into the Conn-Pod at an alarming rate, drowning out the warnings of the A.I.. The Plasmacaster was still burning bright on Raleigh's side, but it was not the second discharge that caused the water to burn hot around them.

\- Radiation levels rising. Please assume the Ration Prevention Position -

Knifehead's body twitched on pure instinct; it was no longer alive to screech as Jaeger's reactor burned through its skin and melted away the back of its armor. Gipsy Danger pushed away from the dying Kaiju, its boosters roared to life and with her one good arm, she raced toward the surface.

The crew of the _Saltchuck_ could feel the blows of the battle beneath them as they scrambled to save themselves from the storm raging around them. Clinging to what wreckage they could grab onto as their livelihood sank, they witnessed thunder flash below. Moments later it was expelled from the bottom, tearing the water open for mere seconds before it closed back around. The waves swelled around them, threatening to consume them.

Gipsy Danger broke free from the bottom as thunder roared overhead. They screamed as the water rushed down from her shoulders, sweeping them further away from her body. Gipsy Danger never noticed them. Clumsily, the Jaeger moved forward, swaying back and forth, undaunted by the storm.

* * *

Raleigh couldn't feel his own body anymore. The only reason he knew he was moving was the constant rattle of the Conn-Pod that dislodged more and more shards of Gipsy's visor from her face and awful hiss and moan of her limbs.

He could feel every gaping hole in the Jaeger's armor, every piece that hung loose or wasn't hanging on at all. Gipsy Danger lost more than just a limb on the way back to shore; every step she took, her suspension continued to drop, and her balance got worse. She was falling apart from the inside out. They stumbled through the water that only reached as high as Gipsy Danger's ankles the further inland they came.

The interior of the Pod was wrecked, the control panel was gone, torn from the ceiling by the claw of the Kaiju that no longer remained lodged the Jaeger's head once they pulled free from the creature's dying body. Gipsy Danger's hand had yet to return to standard mode. The canon was no longer working, but it could still rotate. Looking up he could see where the right harness was pull from the ceiling and dragged to the back of the Pod.

His brother lay sprawled on the ground at an awkward angle, unmoving. Raleigh wanted to disengage from his harness (if he could), but he knew if they stopped Gipsy Danger wasn't moving again. He was still breathing, he knew that much.

Raleigh could hear every thought in his head as bounced off his own; Yancy was still fighting, still calculating, and there wasn't anything hit except the rapidly aggressive black spots that were beginning to blotch their minds.

He raised another leg; Gipsy Danger's foot collided awkwardly against land. The absence of water threw her off, Raleigh felt himself tipping and they fell forward. Her knee collided against the ground, followed by the next. Her head fell forward. Raleigh was suddenly hanging like a parachute victim caught on the branch of a tree. From behind he could hear the tendons of the Jaeger's neck breaking away from the Pod.

Everything that wasn't attached to the Conn-Pod began was propelled toward the opening of the visor. Yancy and the harness went flying past him. "No, no, no!" Raleigh scrambled, thrusting his arm forward. Gipsy Danger's hand grabbed the end of the harness; Yancy's eyes snapped open in response the pain that flared up in his side. He had no breath to cry out, he twisted in a vain attempt to move away from the agony. The air around him was cold; his lungs struggled with the weight bearing down his chest. He barely had seconds to realize where he was before his altitude started to plummet rapidly.

Gipsy Danger collided with the ground unceremoniously, arm outstretched.

\- Gipsy Danger offline. -

* * *

To the boy and his grandfather who sidestepped the colossi, the Jaeger seem to appeared out of the fog on the mere desire of needing to find something better than a toy robot. It wasn't a ship, but it was the next best thing.

The little boy marveled at the size of the Jaeger at the same time his grandfather gawked at the severity of its damage. Neither had ever seen a Jaeger beyond a television screen or a newspaper. To think they'd be present when one came crashing down onto the shores after a battle, it was more than overwhelming.

"Do you think anyone's still alive?" The boy asked as he followed his grandfather toward the downed Jaeger. "God knows, I hope so," His grandfather shook his head. Picking up his pace, he told his grandson to remain where he was and rushed over to the shattered opening in the head. He was barely up the hill of sand stirred up by the crash when a body started crawling out of the head.

* * *

Parts of Raleigh's suit tore away from his body as he pulled himself free of the harness. His left arm was burning worse on the right, and he wasn't sure the pain was coming from him anyway. He fell into the blend of snow and sand, worn from piloting on his own.

Using his arms he dragged himself across the ground, clawing at the earth beneath him. His head is ringing once his ears are battered by the air outside the Jaeger. Raleigh tried to stand, his legs gave way beneath him, but he tried to remain upright as he stumbled down the hill. He didn't pay attention to the man circling him, asking if he needed help. Raleigh was single-minded in his determination to find his brother. He followed the outstretched arm of Gipsy Danger up the shore. "Yancy," Black spots dance across his eyes as he stumbles toward the Plasmacaster. "Yancy."

Every inch of Gipsy Danger is smoking; everything seemed imperfect, damaged beyond repair. "Yancy!" His brother was lying on the ground mere inches away from the hand. He stumbled across the distance toward him, falling to his knees he checked him over.

Yancy's left arm was pinned under him in an awkward position; he could see blood running outside of his armor. _Oh, shit._ "Yancy, Yancy, can you hear me?" Grabbing his helmet he pulled it away from his head and tossed it aside.

"…I can hear you,"Yancy barely groaned as his brother grabbed him by the right arm. Raleigh felt his brother's arm shift. "Stop, stop, stop!" Yancy started to squirm, when his left arm moved. He cried out, trying to pull his arm out of his grasp. "Goddamnit, Raleigh, get off my arm!"

"I know! Just hang on, hang on," Raleigh leaned forward and tucked his arm around his brother's waist and sat him up. Their position was awkward, the harness rested on his arm, pulling them both back toward the ground.

Yancy felt lightheaded, the pain in his arm and back was just getting worse upright and the harness attached to him didn't help matters either. His gaze shifted to meet his brother. The visor of his helmet was broken; he could see trails of blood running down his face and nose. "I'm sorry," Raleigh breathed.

Yancy ignored his apology. "Nevermind. Did we kill it?"

Raleigh nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I think we did," Raleigh replied.

"Good," Yancy closed his eyes. "I can't feel my arm, Rals."

"Which- which one?"

Yancy shoot his head. "I dunno, the left?"

"Left arm's broken, we need to-" Raleigh stopped and looked to his right. The old man he barely noticed from before was still standing across from him. "Hey- hey, we need some help," He told him.

"My grandson's gone for help," The man informed him, his voice trembling. "Tell your friend- tell him to hang on."

"I'm not goin' anywhere… I don't think," Raleigh glanced down at his brother; Yancy's eyes were at half-mass, he could feel tremors from his body staring from his legs down. Bleeding, he was still bleeding. Raleigh stared down at his own side; he was bleeding on the opposite side.

They couldn't do a goddamn about the bleeding thing until- Raleigh turned to face the man again. His back was facing them, his attention on the shoreline ahead of him. "Hey, hey, guy!" The old man turned, he moved quickly toward them and kneeled.

"What is it, son?" Raleigh tried not wince at the sound of the word while his brother chuckled deliriously. "I need your scarf. A tourniquet to stop the bleeding," Raleigh explained. "Please, my brother's hurt." The grandfather wasted no time; he pulled the scarf from around his neck and handed it over.

"Alright, give me a hand, I've gotta keep him steady," Raleigh draped the fabric across his brother's abdomen. The armor and the circuitry suit on his left side were gone, torn away by the Kaiju. The old man grabbed the other end and fed it around the back, bringing it back to the piece Raleigh held in his hand. Raleigh twisted the two ends together and pulled them in opposite directions. The old man stared down at Raleigh's handiwork. Raleigh kept his gaze focus on his brother, he hadn't so much as flinched. Yancy blinked owlishly. "I barely felt a thing."

* * *

**Author's Note:** _Pilot Under Grace_ has two more chapters before competition, thought I'd sit this out here (more or less because this was incumbent on mine completing a ficmix challenge that I completely forgot about). I might post the fanmix here. That said, I've been a bit wary about writing YL (Yancy Lives), because I'm okay with him being dead, but at the same time fannish desires kinda pull me towards wanting to explore the idea of his survival because I did something similar with _Cloverfield_ and it'd be a shame to let this bunny scamper off.

It's not difficult to come up with an alternate solution, but the consequence probably won't have the same impact. Regardless, I wanna do this and let's see how I land on my feet. Tally ho, y'all. Let me know what you think, comments are appreciated.


	2. 002: Red For his End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Author's Note:** So, contrary to some fearful beliefs, no, I haven't given up on this story. If I had, there would be a great big caps locked "DISCONTINUED" in the summary. But to make a long story short, I ran into some serious personal problems that I've been dealing with for the last three or five months since Winter Break that have literally burnt me out on an emotional and creative level. I might be writing still, but I haven't been mentally ready to update this again until now. So I hope you enjoy this and please feel free to provide concrit and comments (especially since there's likely to be medical fail in this chapter). The next chap'll be more Becket and Pentecost focused. I just wanted to establish Veronica and her world.
> 
>  **Thank You** , (on FF Net): knightphoenix2, Nek0Nek0, Master Li, Guest, Red and (AO3): EbonyWinterWitch, and everyone who's followed or Favorited the story, reviewing and the encouragement.
> 
> * * *

Marley Hopkins ran across the snow and sand as fast as his feet could carry him. The aforementioned was hard, the weight of his own clothes, the shortness of his breath and the way the sand would sink around his feet, made every step feel like an eternity.

Still, it was exciting. He'd never seen a Jaeger up close before, much less a damaged one. There was so much detail the action figures never picked up on- and to top it all off, there were Jaeger pilots inside.

Of course there were Jaeger pilots, Marley, why wouldn't there be? Marley tripped through the snow as their car came into view. Shaking the sand and snow from his person, he climbed up the slope toward the parking lot and ran with little breath he had left until he fell against the car door. "Jeez," Adjusting the hat on his head, he pulled on the handle of the car, the door came swinging toward him. The weight threw him off balance, Marley was practically swinging on the door.

The door came to an abrupt halt. Pushing away from the frame, Marley walked around and climbed into the car, using the arm of the front passengers seat to pull himself inside. Frankie's cell phone was lying on the floor next a pile of old MacDonald's wrappers. He reached down, if he wasn't staring right at it he would've missed the cell phone entirely and looked elsewhere. Sliding out of the car, Marley raised one hand to his mouth and puled his glove off with his teeth. The cold nipped at his skin, he ignored it and dialed 911.

* * *

Veronica Flanagan lay in the bed with nothing but a pillow and the sheets to call her companion. She rolled herself into makeshift cocoon until it was comparable to a pair of arms around her body.

In the background, _The Sounds of Nature_ (a silly CD her brothers gave her six months before moving further East with the family), played low in the background. Somewhere between waking and REM, dreams-turned-nightmares tumbled in her the background of her mind. What would start as an idyllic dream would tumble down into the corridors of some nightmarish environment where debris and a hail of bullets tear her apart and crush the only sense of normalcy left in her life.

Sleeping pills left her drowsy depending on the time of day she took them and she often fought sleep regardless of how she was feeling. She was falling back into old habits, avoiding discussion and living in a moment she couldn't let go, working until she could lift a finger. Definitely not recommended by her therapist, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Medication and nature was the enemy, it regurgitated misshapen creatures from the water and tore everyone's life to hell with no promise of retribution. She was only thirty seven years old, but she wanted her life to be over already. She rolled onto her side, arms encircled around the pillow. She watched the beam of light behind her widen and a silhouette stretch across the wall. "Ronnie," Half asleep, Veronica mistook the voice for another and closed her eyes.

"Ronnie."

"Go away, Son, I'm not in the mood."

"Too bad, Dr. Flanagan, we're on call."

"I just got in here," She grumbled, rolling back onto her back.

"Actually you've been in here for five hours. It's morning now," Sonia's short and curly hair in the light likened her to an angel, the very opposite of what she was being right now.

Veronica sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. "What happened?"

Sonia smiled mischievously. "Bride and groom's family got into a brawl. I think it's safe to say that wedding's cancelled."

"Well, no wonder. Who gets married in February?" Veronica mused, rubbing her eyes.

"Lots of people, Joan of Arc. C'mon, clock's ticking," Sonia stepped out of the door way and traveled back down the hall. Veronica shuffled after her, cursing the very flow of time itself. This job wasn't worth it sometimes.

* * *

"Marley should be on his way soon with help, just hang on," The old man said. Raleigh could barely barley muster a nod of his head as he listened to the wind whistling in his ears. His face hurt, his body was too numb to register anything beyond the vague pang of pain.

He cast his gaze downward. He could still feel his brother in his head, flashing slowly and out sync with his own mind. The last he'd heard of his brother, he was laughing. Raleigh tried to match that blinking light, but it was getting slower and it was already difficult to breathe. Raleigh did his best to prod his brother through whatever means he could with muscle memory alone. Marco Polo was the first thing that jumped to mind. He'd say "Marco", sometimes he would get the "Polo" response, and other times Yancy was completely silent. If it weren't the fact that they were still connected, he would've assumed his brother died his arms.

Yancy hadn't felt anything when he used the tourniquet to slow the bleeding, and at that point, Raleigh wanted to sink into himself to hide from the biting snow beneath them. If he was still feeling the cold, then so should his brother, especially one whole side exposed to the elements.

"Do you remember what happened?" Raleigh looked up from his brother. The old man was slowly undoing the buttons on his jacket. He nodded, eyes wandering back down to Yancy. The confection color red snow under his brother was beginning to scare him.

Of course he did. He could still see Gipsy Danger lying on her stomach, left arm outstretched from where she landed on the ground, could still smell the odor left behind by the Kaiju after it was hit with the Plasmacaster. The old man knelt in front of Raleigh, his coat fanned out as he draped it over his brother. Yancy inclined his head toward the slight gust of air that he hit his eyes. He couldn't see much beyond shapes, one he knew he was his brother, the other was a stranger. He shook his head, tried to leaned forward. He didn't feel the tremors of his muscles, he barely raised himself up from his brother's body.

"Raleigh..."

"It's okay, Yance," Raleigh and the old man's hands gripped his armored shoulders as he tried to move.

"Your brother's fine, son, just relax," The old man said. "Help's here." Raleigh gripped the wool coat appreciatively in spite of the guilt eating at him. He could barely think straight, he couldn't concentrate because of Yancy's growing lack of focus. How long had they'd been sitting out in the cold? He hoped he could repay the old man for helping them when he didn't have to. "C-can I ask your name?"

"What's that son?" The old man learned forward, his forehead touching the side of Raleigh's head. Raleigh repeated his question, difficult considering his lips were quivering. The old man seemed to smile at him. He squeezed Raleigh's arm reassuringly and said, close enough to feel the breath from his mouth, "Frankie."

* * *

When there was a idle in the flow of patients, Veronica and Sonia spent their free time tossing Hershey kisses over their respective sides of the desk, to see who'd catch them in their mouths. There was no thought given to what would happen next in the day, it would arrive when it came. Veronica hoped it would be later than sooner, but by the sixth attempt to catch the fourth Hershey in her mouth without slamming her chin against the counter, the desk radio received an incoming call.

Closer to the radio desk, Veronica pressed her feet against the floor and pushed away. She officer chair she sat in rolled smoothly toward the desk. In one smooth movement she picked the lifted the radio from its cradle and pressed the talk button. "Regional Hospital, this is Dr. Flanagan speaking," Veronica responded in her best "professional voice".

If there was a way to illustrate how the voice on the other end, one she assumed belonged to a little boy from the sound of him, Veronica imagined it would look like someone out of School House Rock. A bunch of over designed words pressed against each other in an effort to fit more on the label of a cassette tape.

"A Jaeger - a robot - it crashed right across from us and this guy crawled out, but I saw someone fall out its head and I think they're really hurt. My granddad told me to get help, and I called 911, but they forward me over to you and I just really need you hurry up and get here, because they're really hurt-"

"Sweetie, slow down, I can't understand you-" The boy didn't seem to hear her. He repeated himself, sure, but in the time it took to discern what he was trying to tell them, Veronica knew they'd already lost too much time as it was.

Someone was hurt and needed their help, but they were smack in the middle of a beach a fair distance from them. "Can you reach us from where you are, sweetie?" Sonia asked over her shoulder Veronica passed the desk radio over to her.

"No, I don't know how to drive and we're all the way on the beach," It was the last thing Veronica remembered heard from him before she got on the horn and relayed the information to the not-so-nearby Shatterdome, the Icebox.

The controller on duty wasn't anyone she was familiar with, but he corroborated the boy's story. There was a Jaeger deployed earlier that morning, but gone missing for two hours before their transmission. "Where'd you find it?" His was high and slightly gravely, and reminded her of her mother. "We didn't find it, a kid did," She told him. "Actually, it kinda parked itself in front of him and his granddad."

There was a brief period of silence then, "Alright, do you know the coordinates?"

"What- why? Don't Jaegers come equipped with GPS?"

"We can track them usually, yeah, but something happened during the fight, comms and the navigation systems went down. Earlier, the pilots terminated communications. We can't pick up any signals from the Jaeger, no life signs from the pilots either."

Veronica bit the edge of her mouth. "The kid said he came from a beach, Ink Pointe, I think," Veronica replied, raising one finger to Sonia when she urged her to hurry up. "We're going out there now. See if we can't help the pilots... if they're alive."

"They're alive, they're tough bastards, those Beckets. And we'll send a team over to recover the Jaeger. Be careful, Miss-"

"Dr. Flanagan, Veronica."

"I'm Tendo Choi, J-Tech."

* * *

Relatively speaking, "hanging off the side of a helicopter" was just exaggerated speech for "freezing my ass off in a helicopter". At their height and the given temperature, the doors weren't open, they were still cold as hell, even with several layers between them and the steel. Neither Veronica or Sonia were terribly thrilled to be huddled inside a small space, wrapped in knee length down jackets that restricted movement to a considerable degree. Veronica kept her gaze focused on the white of cloud and fog swirling above and around them.

The environment was relatively undisturbed, the world was consistently pale and cold until a streak of black seemed to stretch out above the fog. Veronica recognized it immediately smoke for an industrial fire burning below. As the helicopter descended below the fog, the extent of the smoke's origin was revealed. "Whoa, look at the size of that thing, Ronnie," Sonia exclaimed with little to no irony.

Veronica nodded numbly, eyes quickly deciphering the skyscraper sized mech lying face down in the snow and sand, one arm outstretched and the other missing. Veronica let out a low whistle. She'd always known Jaegers were massive, but it was quite another idea altogether to see one up close. "You see anyone down there, Son?"

"Nah, I can't see anything besides the big ass robot-oh, wait, hang on. I see somebody." Veronica pressed her cheek against the window and strained to see anything beyond the smoke drifting past the helicopter. "Where?"

"Right below us, I guess. He's waving his arms around- we see you, guy - and there two people across from him, they're not moving."

"They hurt?"

"It's possible, it might be the two guys the kid told us about," Sonia said.

Who else could they be? Veronica thought as the helicopter landed.

* * *

Raleigh's legs were numb, he couldn't feel his arms and he had no idea whether or not his eyes would open if he tried to open them. Raleigh wasn't sure how long it was before the choppers arrived. He knew he felt them; it was hard to ignore the almost intrusive beat of air disturbed the snow around them as they hovered above and landed across from them.

Against the backdrop of the sea hitting the shore, he heard a clamor of voices and the reassuring hand on his shoulder. Raleigh, chilled to the bone and delirious with relief, squeezed his brother's good hand. He couldn't tell if there was a reaction or if he even moved his fingers at all. "Sir, I need you to move. Get him on the helicopter, guys," Raleigh turned his head toward the commotion, now practically right on top of him.

"Sonia, I gonna need some help," Raleigh leaned away from the voice that struck him in the ear with its sharpness. A pair of hands steadied his shoulders while the other pried his arms around his brother. Raleigh felt his body collapse against a solid form. He had little to no strength to them when they pried him away from Yancy. No, help my brother first, he wanted to say. They succeeded in pulling him away and he protested, even when his body would rather he didn't.

"Hon, you have to let us work, we're trying to help you and your friend," Raleigh stared into the face kneeling in front of him. It sounded like a woman with blonde hair, maybe he was projecting. "I'm fine, my brother needs the help."

"And he's getting it, right now, I'm more worried about you," The blonde voice said. _Blonde voice, good one Raleigh._

 _Shut up._ A light shined in his eye, he felt the eyelid twitch in response but the beam never adjusted accordingly. "Looks like you've got some blood in your eye, there-"

"Raleigh."

"What's that?"

"My name is Raleigh- I think," Someone tilted his head, his muscles tensed immediately. He let out a small moan when a hand slid down his collar. The jingle of a chain and metal followed. "Says here you're definitely Raleigh Becket," The blonde said. Raleigh took a moment to consider their words; Raleigh was the youngest, that was him, Yancy was the oldest. "Right, sorry."

"It's totally fine, we all get a little mixed up," He could hear her smiling if such a thing was possible. "Okay, I'm going to need you lie down now, Mr. Becket."

"No, I don't want to," He said.

"I know you don't, but we need you to," She said. "It's gonna get a little crowded where we're going, so I need you to lie down if I'm gonna help you. Sonia, how's it coming with the other guy?"

"We managed to get him free of the harness, but, he's lost a blood and-" The other voice is distant, the rhythm of the rotors around him seem to increase in volume, drowning out what she was saying. Did something happen? _Wait, How much was "a lot"?_ Was there's something wrong? A blanket fell around his shoulders. The heat around his body was trapped immediately. "Wait-"

"Relax, Raleigh, we're gonna get you and your brother outta here," The woman reassured him.

* * *

The sound was neither gentle nor motionless. It pounded against his head and in the distance he could see a light flashing ahead of him. The lack of mobility was first thing he noticed, he couldn't think of why he'd be unable to move.

_Marco._

"Mr. Becket, can you hear me?"

_Polo._

"Mr. Becket, I need you to open your eyes."

_Yancy!_

"Yancy?"

 _Raleigh?_ Yancy opened his eyes, he felt his lips part and air move slowly past his throat (which felt really raw, by the way). Blurry impressions moved over quickly over him, the environment rattled, but he could still recognize the cool air around him.

The light stopped moving, landing directly on his eye. The muscles around his eye reacted accordingly, he tried moving his head away but it was fixed in place. "Hey, don't try to move Yancy, you're hurt," Came a voice that was not his brother's.

 _Tell me something we don't know._ Yancy tried to speak, the sound that came out of him was something akin to a grunt... or something. He felt fingers pry his closed eye open, the muscle barely twitched, though he felt his head try to move away from the persistent light. "Pupils are still dilated, how are you feeling, Yancy?" The voice asked. Yancy shook his head again and immediately regretted it; he gritted his teeth against the pain that raced down his neck toward his right arm.

Like a series of negative reactions, his left arm reacted to the pain and merely returned pain in kind when he realized that arms were restrained as well. "Okay, okay, calm, down," He felt the vague impression of hands on his chest, just enough to register the odd tingling beginning travel down his left side. That wasn't normal, he didn't think it was.

"Ronnie, tell me you didn't wake the guy up?" Another voice, feminine as the other, crackled over static on a radio somewhere nearby. Yancy's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he tried to move his neck again. If he could scream then he might've. The air his lungs seized up when the pain spread across his ribs down to his lower back.

"You're really hurt, you need- I didn't mean to Sonia, I was just checking the IV and I saw his eyes open," The voice responded.

"Well, how's he doing?" The other voice said, irritated.

"Do you know where you are, Yancy?"

He didn't necessarily register the question; she was asking him something, that much was certain. He stared at the yellow blur. There was an irritated grumble from the voice. Yancy decided to try and remain still as the light above was obscured by a yellow blur with a bony face. _Raleigh?_ He tried to say, he couldn't hear himself over the noise going on around him. _Yancy?_

"You're brother's fine, kiddo, he's in the other chopper gettin' worked on right now," The voice said. Yancy bristled a little; no one's called him kid in years. The woman moved back into his line of sight. He blinked once or twice to make sure he hadn't made her up in his head. His visibly cleared, only just barely. He could see her mouth and her eyes, they were dark --- maybe brown. Then she smiled, albeit uneasily, at him and her lips parted. "Yancy, listen, I'm not sure how much you remember, but you're really hurt."

Yancy blinked at her as if to say 'duh'. "What I mean, is if you're feeling weird, it's probably from the blood loss, which we're trying to fix," She said. "Now, judging from your pupils, you might have a concussion, so I need you to stay awake for me."

He blinked three times, hoping she'd understand "no", he didn't want to move his head again.

"Hey, it's easy, I've got a brother who stayed awake after getting conked on the head with a keg mug. You just gotta relax, alright?" She said. He blinked three times again in response. It was getting really hard to follow what she was saying. "…wake up, you'll be right next to your brother." _Yance-_ he winced as his head started throbbing and the buzzing in his head fell silent. _Raleigh?_

"What? What is it?" Veronica came closer. "Yance?"

He blinked once, he didn't know. Numbness spread through his head, the faintest impression of relief crossed his face. The woman sitting next to him leaned back and checked his side, there the dressing --- a scarf --- was soaked through, but there appeared to be no sign of bleeding. She looked up, his lips were moving. "Yancy? Yancy, can tell me where it hurts?"

 _In my head_ His eyes started to close; the world shrank away from him as he fell back into the welcoming blanket of warm and dizzy feelings. "Yancy... safe now... Yancy, open your eyes."

Safe was relative. That was the last thing on his mind, honestly.

* * *

In most cases, it was recommended that injured pilots were taken back to the Shatterdome with the damaged Jaeger. Hospitals worldwide were affiliated with the Pan Pacific Defense Corps on the off chance extra hands were needed in either facility. However, given their situation, they only had time to return to the hospital where they worked.

From what Veronica could tell, the worse the Becket brothers suffered were severe burns from the circuitry suit (which were a nightmare to cut off, what with the relay gel), mild concussions and injuries that may have correlated directly with the Jaeger. The younger, a superficial cut above his right eye the right side of his waist and a concussion, a twisted ankle and suit-related injuries, including lacerations from where he'd torn away from the harness. Despite her concern, she was a little more interested in Sonia's patient, the oldest. They switched, Sonia not really caring whom she got work with, as long as the end result was getting them out of the crash site and someplace warm.

The worst of his apparent injuries were elongated slashes across his left side and a broken left arm. Boarding the helicopter, Veronica had done well enough to a patch job to keep the blood abated, but that as all. Yancy Becket needed help, and he needed it soon. Raleigh Becket fared relatively better than his brother - the trauma associated with their drift notwithstanding. The whole ordeal was mess. For the first time in her life, Veronica was glad to never have the responsibility of dealing with battle assessments beyond caring for injured Rangers.

Isolation for radiation exposure was usually the first thing they had to deal with whenever they dealt with Jaeger pilots, particularly if they survived the end of their Jaeger. To their fortune, however, neither brother ever came into direct contact with the heart of the Mark-3 Jaeger that lay across from them, a mirror of their defeated masters.

Shreds of armor and body suits sat in a trashcan for contaminated materials. The sound of running water beating hard porcelain bowl of the sink snapped her out of her trance. She stepped away from the sink, hands raised and her back to the door. The hum and beep of the machines around her, she barely paid any attention to the voices of the other doctors around her as she approached the surgical table. The young man on the operation table was oblivious to the world around him was concerned. She spared him a brief glance, almost envious of his current state of nothingness as she slipped into her scrubs.

Veronica kept her chin up. It wasn't everyday a doctor could say they got to save a Jaeger pilot. If they survived the destruction of their mech, they very rarely escaped the hospital with their lives. She looked up from Yancy's face and around at the other doctors. "Okay, Flanagan, you're good," Said one of the technicians. Jaime, she thought she said her name was.

* * *

Sonia never considered herself much for the bedside manner. Though the act itself was not impossible to perform, there was some level of her position as a nurse she felt required her to be more optimistic than the constraints of her own outlook allowed, especially with the way some things were now.

"I've never been this close to a Jaeger pilot before," If Chloe Payne's doe eyes could've sparkled any more under the dim light of the pilot's hospital room, Sonia imagined she could provide a second light from the mere awe radiating from her being.

Sonia shook her head, fingers pushing the needle through the skin slowly. "Trust me, they're nothing spectacular, some can be real assholes."

"Oh," Chloe shook her head, ponytail switching back and forth with the motion of her head. "I know, believe me. But- It's just kind of weird, thinking that they're the ones moving those machines around, you know? They're so small in comparison," Her eye's followed Sonia's back over to the unconscious pilot lying in the bed. He was far from the picture "hunk", but he looked a far sight better than his partner. Sonia allowed herself to smile just a little. "I know," She said. Chloe nodded shortly, eyes wandering up at the clock. It'd been little more than three hours since they returned from the shores of Anchorage.

Dr. Payne had been waiting for them in the ER when they returned, dressed down in her best winter coat. They hadn't had winter quite like this since 2014, nearly six years ago. The fact that the pilots were out there exposed to the elements for more than an hour waiting for help to arrive with a feeble old man was pause for concern.

Raleigh lay in bed, unconscious as he had been for the better part of their trip despite their best efforts to keep him conscious before they worked on his body in room opposite of his brother. He drifted in and out, eyes swiveling behind half opened lids, trying to ascertain what was going on around him, most likely.

His short lived moments of lucidity appeared to coincide with his brother's, meaning they were brief and Sonia barely had enough time to attract his attention before he slipped back under.

Raleigh hadn't opened his eyes since coming out of his own operation, and honestly she didn't expect him to after what happened to him. There wasn't much she could do for Raleigh beyond make him comfortable and make sure the burns remained clean and hope no complications arose in his sleep.

"Did they get it? The Kaiju, I mean?" Chloe asked.

"That's what the reports are saying," Sonia replied. "Big and ugly is somewhere at the bottom the ocean according to the corps." Pulling the thread taught she used a pair of scissors to cut it from the rest that kept the gash on his forehead closed. "That should do it."

"It's strange, he doesn't look so banged up considering what happened," Chloe remarked quietly. "Is that normal?"

"Sometimes," Sonia remarked. "I knew of one pilot, she got out of a fight with a twisted ankle, her partner on the other hand wasn't so lucky."

"Did she live?"

"Yeah, she was comatose for year, but she woke up eventually," Sonia chuckled at the smile on her friend's face.

* * *

Frankie and Marley sat in the quiet of their own hospital room, the noises of the hospital personnel wandering around outside their door acting as a backdrop to their preoccupied thoughts.

Marley sat on the bed, legs swinging, and his coat on his lap. Frankie, lying back against the wall his bed was pushed up against, was content to watch him in the corner of his eye while his fingers pressed lightly into the smooth surface of the mug of hot chocolate in his hand.

Of every possible outcome of a single day, he never quite expected to be the hero of a pair of fallen heroes, especially not Jaeger pilots. When they carried him over to the helicopter, he insisted on remaining behind, his grandson had yet to return and there was no one to pick him up. Their rationale, of course, was, "Sir, if he has a cell phone, then he can call home."

They were a quite a fair distance from Marley's home and even further from his, so he persisted until at least two of the crew in the helicopter remained behind and fetched Marley. Frankie gave them his keys and the direction to the car as he pushed into the helicopter with the other patients. He kept giving them the directions until the door shut and the helicopter was airborne.

Crammed between a wall and a gurney, Frankie was quiet the entire time Miss Jimenez worked on the pilot that emerged from the head of the fallen machine. From the angle he was sitting at, he looked much younger than he initially assumed without the helmet obscuring his face.

"What were you two doing out there, anyway?" She asked.

"Treasure hunting," He answered. "It's something we do whenever we get the chance."

"Well, I'd say you caught yourself one valuable treasure, here, mister."

The helicopter landed, Miss Jimenez and the gurney were the first out, relaying the injuries of her patient. He followed, getting as far as the outside of the helicopter's white symbol branded on the concrete before another pair of doctors with a free gurney approached him and led him toward the elevator. As the other helicopter began to depart, he caught sight of the other approaching.

He was checked out with a clean bill of health and a warning to remain out of the cold without proper wear. Frankie acknowledged the matronly order from the young woman with the large blue eyes with a weary nod. "Please tell me when my grandson comes in, please," He said.

"What's his name?"

"Marley Hopkins," Frankie responded.

"Alright, I will be sure to do that, Mr. Hopkins."

"Uh, my name's Churchill. Son took his wife's name, Hopkins," He corrected. The young woman looked quite taken aback by that revelation, but nodded all the same. "I will be right back with something warm to drink. Any requests?"

"Hot chocolate, please."

Marely didn't come into the hospital until an hour and half later, chatting excitably with the EMT's that picked him up. He remained in the car until he saw an ambulance approach the vehicle and assumed that his call got through to the hospital.

The sound of Marley's feet touching base with the ground dragged Frankie out of his thoughts. He watched his grandson inspect the shelf behind his bed, and silently thanked there was a lock on the door.

"Hey, granddad, do you think the pilots will be alright?"

"Sure they will, sport. We got them help in time, they'll be fine," Frankie yawned.

"You should believe your grandfather, kid," Marely turned his attention away from the shelf toward the door. The doe eyed nurse from before entered the room with a slight skip in her step, pony tail swinging contently behind her. "Mr. and Mr. Becket are in good hands."

"Dr. Payne," Frankie sat up a little straighter against the wall. "Have you contacted Marley's parents?"

"Can you fix their Jaeger?"

"Sweetie, it's the Shatterdome's job to fix Jaegers, the hospital can only fix pilots," Chloe smiled. "As for his parents, we did get in contact with them. They're on their way, so don't worry, Mr. Churchill, we're gonna get you home."

Frankie sighed in relief.

"Can we see them? The pilots, I mean?"

"No, they're in recovery right now, so they aren't permitted visitors," Chloe said.

"Can we see them later?"

"If the Shatterdome doesn't request a transfer to their medical unit before they wake up, it's certainly possible. I'll have to check with Dr. Flanagan to make sure."

Marley's smile put Frankie at ease.

* * *

Veronica stepped out of the shower and walked into a dressing room. Waiting inside was a towel and a pair of clean clothes. Task of drying herself was a challenge, her skin hurt from the temperature challenged water and her legs were just about ready to give out under her after standing for hours. To top it all off, she was hungry and her head was hurting from a lack of sleep. Why couldn't this have been one of these situations where everything was a comic book and nothing hurt you like it did in real life?

Once she was dressed she stepped out of the bathroom and proceeded down the hall. Head downcast, she fiddled with the chain of her dog tags until she reached the elevator. Pressing a button she rocked back and forth on her heels and waited for the enclosed space to arrive.

"Ronnie."

"What?"

"Ronnie."

"What?" Veronica's head jerked up. Pressing one foot into the ground she turned toward the voice. The hall was vacant with the exception of the nurse fiddling with the vending machine on the far end of the room. He was a tall guy, spiky blonde hair, she recognized him as "Tuesday", the nurse with whom she'd seen Angel fooling around with once or twice when he was on call. He cast a wary glance over his shoulder in her direction. Veronica flashed him an uneasy smile. "Sorry, thought you were calling me," She explained.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just tired," The elevator doors opened and Veronica walked into the lift backward, eyes following the uneasy expression of Tuesday as he moved toward the desk. Pressing herself against the wall, see pressed her hand against her face. "Jesus, get ahold of yourself, Flanagan," She muttered as the doors of the elevator closed. Rocking side-to-side, she pressed one foot against the wall and began to count backward from ten. When she arrived on the third floor, she found Sonia standing outside the bedroom of their patients, cup in one hand, the other around waist.

"Any coffee left in the lounge?"

"Nope, this is the last of it," Sonia gave her cup a little shake before bringing the rim to her lips. "Tastes like foot."

"Most coffee you make does, Son," Veronica said. "Have they said anything about the Jaeger yet?"

"What, Gipsy Danger?" When Veronica nodded Sonia's mouth curled into something of a sly smile. "I never figured you were a Jaeger fanboy, Ronnie."

"How did you come to that conclusion, Sonia?"

"You knew the robot's name."

"Oh, my God, that is the weakest conclusion ever."

"Oh, c'mon, how many people can say they know their names by heart?"

"The whole world, Sonia. Jeagers are the new Jesus," Veronica scoffed, eyeing the coffee in Sonia's hand. "And I'm _not_ a Jaeger fly."

"Hey, I'm not judging, Ronnie," Sonia readjusted the hood on her head as her grin widened. "I couldn't blame you really." She motioned toward the two bodies lying in the room they observed through the window. "I figure those two sleeping beauties would be enough to make anyone hot and bothered."

Sonia walked a fine line of suggestive and obnoxious. Veronica couldn't do much of anything that related to men without Sonia drawing conclusions of sexual or romantic nature. She understood her friend's motivation, she still wore a small part of it around her neck, but it was growing tiresome after three years. "Okay, would you stop it?"

"What? I'm not doin' anything."

"I just want to know about the state of the stupid machine," Veronica insisted. "You were there longer than I was." Sonia shrugged her shoulders, boots scuffing the floor and leaving marks. "For about ten minutes, Ronnie. You saw it," She said. "It got its shit got wrecked."

Veronica nodded, fighting back a grim smile. She saw it, yes, but she didn't really _see_ it. There were two boys in need of their help at the present. When they landed, the most that her memory was committed to remembering was the gaping slash that split the head in half and the empty space where the visor might've been. The rest was a blurry blob of grays, white and blue. Cold weather, blood and confused kids. "There was more to it though. I figure if we knew, it might actually tell us something about their injuries."

"Ronnie, I know Jaeger pilots are one with the machine, but I don't think injury transference is a thing," Sonia joked.

"I dunno, Yancy Becket has a broken arm, that thing was missing an arm," Veronica shrugged.

Sonia scoffed. "A simple coincidence, and his left arm was broken, that thing's right arm is missing."

Most officers or medical teams were well versed in what happened in relation to injuries caused by Jaeger combat. The nature of their relationship with the machine made their aches and pains very different from the usual physical illness or injuries. Some pilots complained of pain when their Jaegers underwent repairs; they're heads would hurt until the Conn-Pod was repaired, or their arms were numb until something was done about a joint problem.

Most doctors dismissed that particular ache as self-afflicted by the mind because of how they connected with the Jaeger. They were so connected to the Jaeger that they've basically fooled themselves into thinking, even after disconnect, they felt what the Jaeger felt. Her own teacher, Mr. Davis, classified their pain transference as different to Ghost Drifting.

Veronica's prior career as soldier made her a liaison with recovery programs set up by the Defense Corps because of her history on the field in Iraq. The idea wasn't one she was keen on, not sure where she had the right to act as an aid to a soldier in a completely different circumstance. Nevertheless, it was an position her husband Mike pushed her to accept, certain she could help the pilots out no matter how different their circumstances. Their experiences were different, but the symptoms were largely the same and on some level, her own troubled history put her on a level of rapport that most could never say (or wish) they had.

"CT scans didn't show any signs of Edema or swelling," Sonia mumbled, rubbing her hands together. She was not made out for this cold weather; it wasn't any better in Brooklyn, but at the very least, it never made her feel like she needed to put two tons of clothing on just to stay warm in a building with heating. "CT scans wouldn't pick up the damage left by the drift unless it was physical, that's why we have Pons. Besides, we can't do that just yet because neither of them is awake and we're not in the Shatterdome," Veronica said.

"I know, that's what I said, but in so many words," Sonia said. "How his surgery go?"

"Better than I would've hoped," Veronica replied. "His side was pretty banged up; circuitry burns, minor cuts, major lacerations on his side. There were tiny fragments of bone, non-human in origin, in said injuries. Judging from the pattern, the thing just barely grazed him, but it did some damage. The break in his left arm was clean, just below the elbow and he's lost about two pints of blood. The fact that isn't he dead is probably a miracle."

"Probably," Sonia said.

Veronica nodded. "Anyway, we gave him a transfusion; two unis of whole blood, two units of iron. The real problem was his back."

"His back?"

"Yeah, Harris picked up on torn muscles on his right side. There's bound to be some sign of nerve damage considering the condition of his suit. Either way, it's gonna be a while before he can even walk or move around on his own power if recovery goes well."

"Could he still pilot?" Sonia hazarded a guess that he wouldn't, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Doubtful," Veronica answered staring straight ahead. "What about your patient?"

"Raleigh? He was pretty seasonable, post-surgery, all things considered. He didn't throw the gauze at me, didn't call me bitch, slept right through the stitches, even."

"Son, I'm being serious."

"So was I! He was only conscious every now and again, responsive when I asked him stuff, but he really wasn't about moving, which made my job easier," Sonia said. "I think Chlo-bug has a crush on him."

"Chloe as a thing for tall guys and jocks, is that really any surprise?" Veronica rolled her eyes. Sonia kept her giggling to a minimum; she wrapped one arm around Veronica and rested her head on the edge of her shoulder. "You okay?" There was a pause. When Veronica finally tore her gaze away from watching the two motionless men in the room, she regarded Sonia with one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You look a little worn out. I mean, more than usual," Sonia remarked.

"I'm always more worn out than usual," Veronica replied. "Besides, you woke me up, remember?"

"Because you asked me to, remember that?"

" _Sonia_ -"

"Alright, fine," Sonia sighed. "Next time, I'll just let you sleep and let the patients die."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Veronica grouched, wrapping her arm around Sonia. "What happened to the old man and the kid?"

"Kid's parents came and took them home after signing some forums. They made it out alright, all things considered." Sonia smiled. "I betcha the kid'll be the talk of the school now."

"That's all assuming the Corps won't ask his family to keep quiet about the incident before they can come up an official report," Veronica grumbled.

"Right, but this isn't the first time a Jaeger's gone down, though," Sonia argued.

"No, but it's the first time the pride of the corps has been taken out," Veronica said. "Gipsy Danger and Romeo Blue? They're the stars of an American pioneered program. This'll put a whole 'nother perspective on "are we losing the war?"."

"C'mon, people aren't that fickle."

"Oh, they are, Son," Veronica remarked. "I went off to Iraq, I was a hero, I was serving the American people. I came back, I was the crazy chick, a burden to everyone who didn't want to accept I was messed up. I was a murderer who should've been ashamed of participating in a sham of a war and killing little boys."

"Yeah, but that was Iraq, the Jaegers are different."

"Not really. It'll be worse with the Jaegers, seeing as they're last chance we have to survive. Once word gets out that Gipsy Danger "lost", those boys are going to get the third degree and the Corps' effectiveness is going to be questioned, or bashed. Especially by those "monsters rights" assholes," Veronica gritted her teeth and nodded toward the two prone boys lying in the bedroom. "Just you watch. They'll be hung out to dry."

Sonia regarded her friend with some skepticism and concern. Partly because she knew Veronica's history with those championed the Kaiju was an ugly and bloody mess, and partly because she was not sure she wanted to believe that. She knew the United States was prone to smelling its own ass and eating its own, but she figured the unique and rather global situation would lend itself away from the overemphasis of American exceptionalism and give those boys the benefit of the doubt. This wasn't their fault, how could anyone think so?

* * *

**Next:** "The Price of Arrogance" – Marshal Pentecost deals with the fallout of Gipsy Danger's fight Knifehead; Veronica and Sonia watch over the Beckets as they recover and search for their only next of kin, Jazmine Becket. Raleigh searches Yancy through their fading connection.


	3. 003: The Price of Arrogance

From the confines of the LOCCENT, that which preceded Gipsy Danger resembled falling stars in the light descending from the helicopters. At least they did to Tendo. He stood at the panel with his arms crossed and his eyes forward. Gipsy Danger descended down into the dome, feet-first, to no fanfare. If anything the Shatterdome seemed to become quieter.

All eyes were on were on the lady as she descended into the bay, no one was quite prepared for the sight of her. Her armor was mangled from the fight, more so than usual. She returned to them in a broken state, the front of her armor was in tatters, her right arm was missing - a victim of a truly horrendous hack job - and her head was split in two.

Tendo's hands found their way to his face. He rubbed his eyes twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Jesus Christ," He muttered. It was all still there, the damage, the missing pilots, everything. Gipsy Danger lay on the ground, everyone gathered around her in some meager attempt to figure out what to do with her. From where he stood they looked like bugs gathering around dead meat. Voices below began to rise out of the silence, a clamor of confusion, anger and sadness. He suspected the woman carrying the giant wrench was mourning her work undone, that most of Gipsy Danger's crew wasn't quite registering what was lying in front of them.

It'd barely been a couple hours since he spoke with the woman from the hospital, Dr. Flanagan. Jumphawk teams reported no one was on the beach when they arrived, so Tendo could only assume she and her medical team arrived to help beforehand. He hadn't received any word on the Becket's condition since that call, he was almost afraid to contact the hospital and ask. The state of Gipsy Danger conjured the worst images of his best friends in his head. They came without a second thought and grew worse when he tried to ignore them.

"Is it dead?" The voice next to him startled him to attention. He turned to the right, Alison stood next to him, cup of coffee in her hand. She looked tired, likely for all the same reasons as he was. He should've known something was up when the Beckets never reinstated communications after acknowledging Pentecost's orders to ignore the _Saltchuck_. Raleigh and Yancy rarely, if never, adhered to orders to the letter. They always put their own spin on an interpretation of order, slipped through some loophole unless Pentecost or the governing superior of the Shatterdome they were stationed at were feeling truly unforgiving.

Both he and Stacker were forced to watch as Gipsy Danger remained idle and unaware of the Kaiju circling them as they rescued the Saltchuck until there was a visible damage reading on the monitor. No attempts at communication were answered. Pentecost was visibly anxious and angry by the time the lady lost her arm. When the neural handshake was broken and the signal lost, Tendo could only fear the worst.

Repetitively smashing the communications panel, shouting into the microphone did nothing for either of them. The whole of the ordeal seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Pentecost watched the signal disappear and drifted away from LOCCENT like a man in genuine shock. No matter how many times he asked for guidance, Stacker never seemed to hear him.

Tendo sat in front of the console for the better part of the morning, staring down at the fixtures and buttons in some meager attempt to will them to work. With the signal lost, they couldn't track them. They could've been anywhere under the ocean. The only glimmer of hope was that they somehow accomplished their mission.

That there were no reports of a Kaiju smashing through buildings in Anchorage, and no errant signals popping up on the monitor give him gave him only minor relief.

"Tendo?" Alison rested a hand on his forearm.

"Yeah, it's definitely dead," Tendo replied. "No signatures detected."

"How about your friends, are they alright?"

"That, I'm not so sure about. They were admitted into Regional hospital hours ago, but I haven't called and neither have they," He said.

Alison seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Well, maybe that's a good thing," Alison said.

Tendo had to raise an eyebrow at that. "How do you figure?"

"Well, I think if they had died the hospital would've contacted the Shatterdome. If they're not, it means they're alive and probably being worked on."

"Or the hospital's so backed up they forgot to contact us," Tendo countered. "Bodies are probably sitting happy in a morgue."

"Don't be so morbid, Tendo. It's possible that we wouldn't be the first people they contact, right?" Alison asked.

Given that it wasn't his area, Tendo was never clear on whether or not the families of Rangers were contacted first or after the Defense Corps. He certainly knew that was case with Jaeger crewmen and tech, but Rangers were a different story. "You might wanna ask the Marshal," He said after a moment.

"Marshal Pentecost wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Pentecost isn't like that. He'll listen, even if he doesn't have the time," Tendo rebuked. "But, I take it you want me ask him?"

"If it gets you out of this box, then, yeah, I'd like for you ask him," Alison gave his arm a squeeze. "I've gotta go, I'll see you later."

"Sure," Tendo allowed his gaze to wander from Alison's face as it fell out of view and back down the world below. Some of the crewmen were crying at the sight of Gipsy, like they just lost someone important to them. Tendo assumed he might've felt the same way if he had a definite reason to. His fingers clutched the rosary twisted around his wrist and palm, the top of the cross rest on the tip of his thumb. "You guys better not be dead," He whispered.

* * *

_Find your brother._

Raleigh woke up knowing that where he was was not where he was supposed to be. He faced the old fridge in their old house. He recognized the ding above the handle right off. His arms were resting on the table and his head bowed, his shoulders hunched against the draft coming from the window just above the sink behind him.

"Yancy."

"Do you wanna go up there?"

Yancy."

"What?" Raleigh finally pulled his attention away from the fridge, bewildered by the déjà vu the question conjured. Yancy shot his brother an odd look.

"Yancy!" Raleigh watched his brother, much older than he should've been, bristle at the sound of his name cracking in his mother's voice. "Hold on, ma!" He bowed his head and kneeled in front of their sister, who, at the age fifteen, was too old to be consoled like she was five years old.

"If you want, you can go over to Annie's until I get her settled in, okay? You don't have to stay here if you're uncomfortable," Yancy said. Jazmine kept her eyes forward and her headphones on. She wasn't talking to anyone today. Raleigh remembered Jazmine gave them the silent treatment for a long time before she left with Richard, their father.

Yancy rubbed his sister's shoulders accordingly and stood. Raleigh watched his brother move across the living room like a ghost, shades of his younger self weaving in and out of the twenty year old four body. He cast one glance at her sister, Jazmine was frozen in place, she wasn't moving until he did.

"Yance," Raleigh's palms were against the edges of the table in an instant. The chair slid across the linoleum floor loudly, he crossed the living room in a hurry. Jazmine was already making her way out the door, Yancy was already halfway up the stairs when Raleigh began to ascend. "Yancy, we need to talk."

"What about, Raleigh?"

"About what happened?"

His hand was on the door knob, he stopped. "What happened, again?"

"Something bad, I can't remember the rest," Raleigh said. "Can you?"

A slither of light made of itself known in the dark hallway, specks of dust floated idly in the air, falling and lifting from his freckled skin. From behind the door he could smell smoke. Thick and heavy, it burned his nose and made his head hurt. Yancy shook his head. He could feel his brow creasing. "No, not really," He said. "I've gotta go check on mom."

"Yancy, wait!" Raleigh scrambled up the stairs. Yancy turned the knob and began to pull the door open. Raleigh fell against the door, his nails scraped the backs of his brother's hands. "Raleigh, what are you doing?!" Yancy braced himself against the wall. The weight of his brother shut the door, plunging them into the dark.

Raleigh's eyes focused on their hands; his brother's hand was covered by a glove with tiny yellow dots that glowed in the dark. Pain raced down the side of his face, he leaned harder against the door. "I dunno, I just don't want you to open the door," Raleigh finally answered. Yancy regarded his brother for a moment.

It was just a memory, but the image of his wide eyed eighteen year old brother, too afraid to step over the threshold to see their mother, the day before they were assigned to the Los Angeles Shatterdome, stuck, came rushing back to him. The only difference was one of his eyes were full of blood, off-setting the blood staring to run his face from above his eyebrow. He reached over to wipe the blood from his brother's face, Raleigh flinched, his brother's hand came away red. "You said it was something bad?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's all I know," Raleigh said.

"Then don't dwell," Yancy stared down at his hand, preoccupied. Above their heads whispers of steel groaning under pressure fell in line the ever growing presence of smoke rolling out from underneath the door.

* * *

_(March 3, 2020)_

In the span of two days, Veronica was reminded of the difficulties of dealing with a paramilitary organization. The PPDC wanted to keep things clean and under the rung until they saw fit to come out and explain the situation to the people of Anchorage. Meanwhile the city was tizzy about what happened, considering no immediate harm came to them after being ushered into the Anti-Kaiju refuges and coming out with no damage to speak to their fair homes.

However, the presence of the Becket brothers at Regional Hospital complicated the otherwise vague narrative of details the public already knew about the incident. It was hard to miss a giant mech being lifted back to the Shatterdome, but the damage could be explained away with "it was a tough fight!" The injured pilots on the other hand, fellows who usually came out publically to reaffirm some aspect of the fight to the public, bedridden in a hospital for all to see, made it so that the truth would have to be out eventually.

As such, the medical unit of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps was requesting that Raleigh and Yancy be transported to the medical wing of the Icebox. Veronica's supervisor, Dan Harris, was more than happy to comply with their wishes, "…Once they were awake and stable for travel, not a moment before." When inquiring about the state of security at the hospital, Harris didn't promise that the security would be elevated, but made a note of informing every staff member who was aware of the pilot's presence that they could not speak of word of what they knew to anyone outside the hospital or the third floor if possible.

The man responsible for the Icebox, Marshal Stacker Pentecost, distant a figure as he was, conceded with the amended plans to keep the Beckets at the Regional until they were capable of moving them. Veronica, Sonia, Angel and Chloe kept a watchful eye on the progress of the Jaeger pilots. Managing their burns; severe second degree burns, to her surprise, were no less problematic than most burns with regard to repair- somewhat. Or maybe her was memory was getting hazy. Most nights they were on the floor, they were with each other. On rarer occasions, Veronica did her rounds, worked on her cases and visited the Beckets. Her hours were spent in the middle of two oblivious pilots in no hurry to wake up and she didn't blame them. Still, the whole situation concerning them left her more tired than usual.

Veronica caught sleep wherever it came, even when she wanted nothing to do with it. There was very little surprise on Sonia's account when she found the doctor stretched out in an office chair, feet on the desk and her arms hanging off the arms of the chair like she'd fainted.

Sonia walked casually over to computer. Stretching forward, she bumped Veronica's feet off the desk, Veronica barely flinching from the thud of her feet meeting the floor. She just slouched lower in the chair. Manicured fingernails tapped idly against the tabs of the mouse as she scanned the contents displayed on the screen. "You know the best thing about our patients is?"

Sonia suspected it was nothing out of the ordinary. She cast a look over her shoulder; Veronica was staring at her through the fingers of her right hand, a bleary smile on her face. "From what I'm reading, at least two of them were born here in this very hospital," Sonia replied. "Bingo," Veronica's tongue clicked, right hand imitating a gun. "The youngest of the three: Raleigh and Jazmine Becket."

"Never figured they had a sister," Sonia commented, clicking on the name. "You don't ever hear anything about their family besides the two of them."

"Well, celebrity tends to makes a person shy of talking about their personal lives," Veronica shrugged.

"What about the older brother, Yancy?"

"Records say he was a home birth, mom went into labor while she was in the bath and her husband was away on business. Personal aside says she told the doctor she'd never have another baby without drugs again."

"That bad?" Sonia laughed.

"Apparently," Veronica sat up in the chair. "There's no current address for Jazmine Becket."

"What was the last?"

"A tiny apartment in Nome, she lived with their father, Richard," Veronica replied.

"And what about their father? It just says their mother died in 2017 from cancer," Sonia said.

"I dunno, maybe he's still alive, but their contacts are beyond outdated."

"Maybe their commanding officer has recent info?" Sonia suggested. "I can check the white pages for Jazmine."

"Good idea," Veronica stood up, arms above her head. She let out a yawn and proceeded to shake her shoulders. "Is there any coffee around here?"

"Nurses lounge might have some," Sonia replied, distracted.

"Cool, I'll be right back," As Veronica turned to depart she paused, twisting on one heel. "Hey, how are our boys, anyway? I haven't been up there since last night."

"Same as last night; response to stimuli, but otherwise out like a pair of lights," Sonia shrugged her shoulders, not exactly what Veronica was expecting her to say. "It'll probably be awhile before they wake up."

"I know, I just wanted to know if they were still stable," Veronica protested, defensive.

"They're stable," Sonia confirmed. "Can't say the same about the nurses, though."

Veronica smiled. "Yeah, how many visits so far?"

"I counted a record breaking number of eight nurses all taking their breaks early to have a peek, including Chloe," Sonia grinned. Veronica shook her head. "What about Angel?"

"Angel's a little busy with Thursday."

"Tuesday, his name is Tuesday," Veronica reminded her.

Sonia gave her friend a halfhearted shrug. "Right, I forget," She said. "I'm gonna see if I can't find something on Jazmine Becket. Maybe I'll get lucky."

"Right, I'll be back," Veronica saluted the nurse with two fingers and moved toward the elevator just down the hall from the desk.

* * *

Pentecost dealt with the worst possible situation and with the resources he had. He depended on the people around him to the same, follow orders when they were given. How things tended to crumble as quickly as they did still eluded him, even when he could recall the point of breakdown.

Stacker was not a heartless man, but nor did he feel the compulsion to prove otherwise against popular opinion. A lack of effort made him decidedly less popular and less loved than other officials, particularly other Marshals within the Defense Corps, but he'd learned long ago from his stint in the military as subordinate to higher authority, that no one particularly cared whether or not you were nice. He wasn't there to make friends and play nice, but maintain a well-oiled machine, boost morale and listen where it was necessary.

Rangers weren't idiots, he'd spent the latter half of his life fighting his superiors as a pilot when he believed it counted, but tried to follow orders when it mattered and they didn't fly in the face of what they were fighting for (the safekeeping of the people from the Kaiju). For the metaphorical pasture they placed him, he was willing to bear his own burdens and the blowback that came with commanding.

The Beckets understood that, for all that shit they put him through as their commanding officer, they knew when an order was given and it was to be followed, even when they disagreed.

Their hubris, however, was that they were young and thought themselves immortal. They could save everyone if they just tired, they had all the time in the world to make up (or not) for mistakes and live in the security that what they were doing the right thing for the men in the _Saltchuck_. Ten vs. two million was never something to scoff at. He wasn't callous, but the event of their (inevitable) deaths did not outweigh the number of people who would've died in Knifehead's rampage.

Now he had two pilots down, a Jaeger that'd been trashed to hell, six civilians in critical condition and four dead from toxicity poisoning from Kaiju Blue contamination. He wasn't hoping the other six survived given the notoriety of KB. It wasn't two million people but it looked no better on an official report.

The UN and Kreiger had yet to officially request him and he was preoccupied with compiling the information from the 29 to really count the hours and days until they did. When they called they would call and he would stand over the flames again, defend when necessary and concede when he had to. On some level he'd have to bear the cross of the Becket's decisions and if there wasn't hearing for them, he'd still have to be the one to deal with them whatever the decision of his superiors were going to make.

He did not need this kind of shite right now.

The gentle rap of knuckles against the steel door of his bedroom pulled him from his thoughts. He leaned back in his chair and sat a book over the paperwork. "Come in," He said. The door opened and Tendo stepped through, coat hanging on one arm and mug in the other. "Mr. Choi, any good news?"

"Um, not really, just thought you'd like to know what the techs are saying about Gipsy," Tendo said.

"I can hazard a guess," Stacker replied. "Damaged beyond repair?"

Tendo frowned behind his cup. "Sort've. There was some talk about retrieving the arm where it was lost, but excavators are saying the Kaiju's carcass is a higher priority over something that could be replaced."

"The arm only costs about half of the whole mech, either choice will not be kind to the budget."

"Yeah, but they figure there's more we can benefit from a dead Kaiju than an arm that can be rebuilt," Tendo said. "We're covered on that, sorta."

Pentecost scoffed. "But they don't plan on repairing her, do they?"

"Marshal, I'll be honest. I'm on the team, we'll try and I want to, but, she's in a bad way. It'll be a while before she's fully operational again."

"Longer than a year?"

"Probably longer than Tango was out of commission."

 _Damn._ Stacker's hand found its way to forehead. Rubbing his tumbles, he sat up straight in his chair. "What about the fishermen?"

"Uh, you'll have to ask the medics. Once they were found, dome got the call immediately because of the contamination," Tendo explained. "They're in the med wing under biohazard watch. The ones who've died, their families are being searched for or contacted as we speak probably." He paused. "You know they're probably not gonna make it, right?"

"I know," Stacker replied, hands behind his head.

"Kreiger contact you yet?"

"No, but I figure it won't be long now," Stacker sighed. "Are the Beckets still stable?"

"Last I checked, sir. Like I said, you'll have to check in with the medics. They said the doc working on them - Flanagan or something - is making sure things remain discreet at Regional, but I'm already seeing rumors online."

"Wonderful," If Stacker could press himself any further into his chair without toppling over he would've. "Thank you, Mr. Choi."

There was a moment where Stacker thought to return to his paper work, but he noticed Tendo was still standing in front of his desk. "What is it?"

"Sir, if I may throw out something of a terribly speculative nature," Tendo began. "What if their coms went on the fritz?" Stacker's gaze shifted from the desk toward the J-Technician. "Was there anything about the damage that indicated that coms went out before they engaged the target?"

Tendo seemed to think on the question. His teeth chewed his bottom lip in half-thoughtfulness. "No, sir, not really," He said after a moment.

"Then I have to respectfully disagree with your theory," Pentecost said.

Tendo nodded and turned to leave the room.

When the door closed Pentecost slouched in his chair. Reaching across his desk he grabbed a rubber ball and crushed it in his grasp. Holding back a cough, he tried to focus on anything but his anxieties.

He definitely did not need this right now.

* * *

The last thing Raleigh remembered was the smell of fire, skin and burning relay gel. It was strong enough that it lingered in his nose and clouded his senses.

Yet the brightly lit living room and the open front door told him another story. They weren't in the Conn-Pod. They were still at home, for reasons that weren't exactly a hundred percent clear to him. He knew this much: This wasn't his head, the space he occupied felt artificial. The carpet below his feet didn't react when he moved his feet, not a speck of dust moved when he slid his hand down the side of the shelf against the wall right next to the front door. He was never here.

Above him footfalls rumbled quick and fast alongside a more pronounced sound. Raleigh moved away from the door toward the bottom of the stairs. Looking up he caught the tail end of his brother and father's imposing figures as their sister from the opposite direction of the hall, a duffle bag slung over her right shoulder and a backpack hanging behind her.

Her expression was fraught with dread, the kind of dread he remembered experiencing when he knew he was about to get caught red-handed for doing something illegal. She wouldn't though, he remembered. "-can't be serious about this, not now," Jazmine's feet hit the landing as Yancy and Richard reappeared from around the corner of the left side of the hall.

He wore an old leather varsity jacket, a complete contrast to their father's barn jacket. "I'm sorry, Yancy, but I have to go," Richard had a way of sounding completely unapologetic, even when he was supposedly remorseful.

"And Jazmine? You're just going to let her leave with mom sick like she is?"

"It's Jazmine's choice to leave."

"Jazmine is sixteen, she needs to be here with us!"

Neither of them had really expected anyone in the family to surrender to the illness that was slowly affecting Dominique. It affected them; it was harder to maintain any sense of positivity, even when their mother told them not worry. They were jumpy around each other, quicker to anger and were suddenly mistrusting of their intentions. Richard never did much to stop them from fighting if he caught them. He kind of hung his head and moved off elsewhere.

Neither brother suspected what Richard (or Jasmine for that matter) had been planning. Not even when he began sleeping on the couch and ignoring their mother when she called for help. Yancy pulled up on his father's slack, Raleigh helped when he could even if he had to fight his brother on it. Richard disappeared more often than not. Yancy was playing both brother and father to his entire family and becoming visibly irritated by it.

Raleigh stepped away from the baluster as Yancy and Richard came down the stairs, neither of them noticed him and looking up he saw himself linger at the top of the stairs before moving off the right to check on their mother, whose cries were rising up from the foreground.

He remembered stepping into the room and finding her sitting on the window sill, just waiting for the time that her husband, their father, would disappear forever. Her wig lay on her lap and cigarette remained unlit between her fingers. He followed Yancy out the door.

"-Now she is sick and she is dying," Yancy's voice teetered on the edge of controlled and hysterical. "What she needs is you, not me. I'm not her husband."

"You and your brother can look after her," Richard told him.

"Dad, we are pilots! We cannot look after her all the time, we have other responsibilities."

"And you think I can? You think this is easy for me? Coming home every day to your sick mother, my wife, and knowing I can't do anything to help her?"

Richard stepped forward, Yancy stood his ground. "I never said any of this was easy, dad," He said with a shake of his head.

"You won't always be on call, those monsters don't attack every day, you can be there for her," Richard argued.

"It is more complicated than just fighting every day. We have to be where they can reach us and the Shatterdome doesn't have the recourses to care the terminally ill," Yancy said.

"Yancy, I can't stay here."

"There is nothing that should be more important to you than making sure she- that she's comfortable, that she knows that you still give a shit."

Richard said nothing. The Beckets stared each other down in the middle of the driveway, their little sister watched from the passenger's seat in the front, eyes glassy from tears. Richard moved toward the car, it was there he saw his brother's shoulders fall and his feet unfasten themselves from the concrete path. "Dad!" Richard is on the other side of the car when he finally musters the will to speak. He looks at his oldest not with regret, but pity. "Please don't do this, we need you," He says. "You don't have to go."

"I'm sorry," Richard slips into the truck without a second thought. The sound of the engine roaring to life is the literal sound of their hearts breaking. Jazmine's face fell out of focus. She turned away from him and disappeared. Raleigh stood in silence, he watched his brother fold in on himself, could literally feel every disparaging and self-loathing thought compound itself in the back of his head.

What had their mother done to deserve to be abandoned?

What didn't he do that could've made Richard and Jazmine stay?

He looked up at the window. Dominique was gone, but he could see himself standing where she once sat, hand on the curtain. Raleigh turned his attention back to his brother. Yancy was staring up at the window, eyes wide and apologetic. Old feelings were already stirring in the center of his chest, watching the past from his brother's perspective just made the memory of their father and sister's absence that much worse.

Yancy turned away from the window and started across the yard, his expression faltering every minute that passed. Raleigh followed him, hoping to catch his attention. "Yance," Raleigh's voice was hoarse, but it rattled in the expanse between them like an interruption. He didn't seem to hear him. Yancy kept walking until he reached the end of their yard. His felt his chest grow heavy and breath shorten.

Muscles quivering, Yancy slowly lowered himself to the ground and hugged himself. There wasn't much Raleigh could to except ride the wave of his brother's emotions as they poured out of him in a silent cry.

"Yancy…"

The younger visage of his brother flinched, his breath quickened. He turned, casting his gaze over his shoulder. "Raleigh?" He almost whispers. "What are you doing here?"

"Chasing stray rabbits," Raleigh responded. There was a moment where Yancy looked as though he would laugh, but the crestfallen expression that currently his brother's state of being deepened. He was falling back. Raleigh stepped forward kneeled beside his brother, his arm was around him in a second. Yancy wiped his face, and laid his hand on the ground. His skin made contact with water pooling around his leg. He thought to be concerned; he was distracted by his brother. "You never told me about any of this," Raleigh said.

"I thought you knew," Yancy sighed.

"Drift doesn't show us everything, Yance. And given what I've seen what happens when you think about mom- you're pretty good at suppressing memories."

"No, you were watching."

"Oh, that," Raleigh couldn't say anything on principal. He lowered his gaze, the water his brother barely paid attention to was raising slowly around them. Thunder rolled in the distance above them, but only Raleigh spared the sky, growing darker and darker around them, a second glance.

Yancy closed his eyes against the flash of lightning that him square in the eyes. Behind the darkness of his lids, the cumbersome forms of a monster and her body flashed before as the lightning increased. "Stop it," He whispered.

"What?"

"Please, stop dwelling,"

"Yancy…" The water that sloshed against his knees was around his brother's forearms. Yancy kept his head down, rocking back on his heels as though to combat the memory of the pain he himself was slowly beginning to remember. Raleigh looked out into the distance; the environment that was once their headspace turned home was gone, replaced by the cold and stormy backdrop of the Alaskan sea.

"Maman, je veux me réveiller," Yancy's whisper drew Raleigh closer to his brother. Yancy was shaking, arms hung at his sides tensing in sync with the shortness of his breath. For a moment, his brother seemed to disappear, fading out of sight in conjunction with the rumble of a voice that rode the roll of thunder overhead. The smell of the burning wires and relay gel filled his senses again. "Mom," Yancy's head began to pound as the water began to rise above his head and bioluminescent tidal wave came rushing toward him. The illumination of his helmet reminded to breath, but all he did was swallow water.

_Yancy._

_Find your brother._

_Don't dwell._

_Yancy!_

He'd drowned once. It was accident, like most hazards that weren't signed off on in a contract. He was thirteen and they'd just got back from Budapest, give or take a few months. He remembers the how of it: A dare, usually the thing that lands a Becket in over their head according to their father.

The why of it? Almost a decade or more into his mid-twenties, it still eluded the more slightly more responsible adult part of his brain. He was cocky, self-assured, figured diving into the deep end of a lake wasn't the worst idea he'd end.

Then he actually got under there. Between the rapid beat of his heart, the weight of his own body, the weakness spreading through his muscles and fire in his lungs, Yancy couldn't decide what was the worst aspect of being pulled down by the water; the weariness of the inability to breathe past or against the water choking the inside of his body.

There was also the memory of a weight crushing his mid-section, air working against the water that occupied his body and looking up and honest-to-god thinking he'd died. Then he remembers his sister's noxious perfume, the voices of his family and it allowed him to cling to that reminder of life.

* * *

_(March 5, 2020)_

Veronica really didn't need an excuse to head to the third floor. Her mind was already made up in that regard. She assumed Sonia would still be diligently working away to ascertain the whereabouts of the surviving Becket family in between patients and thus too distracted to humor her. That, or making out with her cop boyfriend, Nick.

All she really needed to do was continue her rounds around the hospital, wait for something to happen (or not happen) and sleep off the rest of her day if she wasn't shuffling patients in and out of the building like a factory. Coffee and energy bar in hand, Veronica leaned back in the confined space and waited for the elevator to bring her to her destination.

In the semi-silence of the elevator, she tried not to allow her mind to drift. Drifting meant wallowing on things she really didn't want to think about, things she was avoiding her doctor, Denise, for. The doors opened on the usual groan, shuttering open slowly to reveal a busier-than-usual third floor. Quirking one eyebrow, she stepped out of the elevator and surveyed the area.

The air carried a tingle of excitement within, but looking at the faces of the doctors stuck in the cycle, the untrained eye wouldn't know any better. Clutching her coffee cup, Veronica made a beeline toward the Becket brother's bedroom.

True to their curious nature, nurses and doctors were exited and entered their room, mouths moving a mile-a-minute. Those who recognized her waved in hello, others plain ignored her. Veronica did a little of both. When she finally reached the door, she spotted Angel and Chloe standing on either side of each brother's bed, moving with much more animation than she felt her whole body was capable for at the moment. "…Have you moved in with him, yet?"

"Um, not yet," Angel replied, nonchalant. "I'm not even in that headspace yet, so it probably won't happen for a while."

"Yeah, but he said he loved you, that's gotta count for something, right?"

"It counts for everything, Chlo bug, but that doesn't mean I wanna live with him, now anyway," Angel slouched his shoulders. "It would be like asking Ronnie if she wanted to move in with the first guy she goes steady with after Mike."

"Well, not exactly, but I get your-"

Veronica knocked on the door frame with a not-so-polite clearing of throat. Both nurses jumped where they stood, the urgency of their conversation shifting now that they were aware of their subject's presence. "Medicine woman here, I'd like to know why there's still a bunch of on-duty nurses and doctors visiting a case that has nothing to with them?" She said.

"They're hot?" Angel offered without argument.

"I assisted Dr. Anspaugh in Mr. Becket #2's- I mean, Raleigh's surgery, so I was just checking up on him," Chloe replied a bit too eagerly "Angel's the one freeloading."

"That's racist, strawberry shortcake," Angel said. "Wh-what?!" Chloe seemed to sputter for a proper response. Something Veronica noticed didn't go unnoticed by Angel who merely smirked at her floundering.

"Don't you guys have patients to attend to?"

"I'm on break and Tuesday's shift hasn't started yet," Was all Angel said. "I'm good."

"I'm off in ten minutes," Chloe replied. _Great._ Veronica exhaled slowly through her nose. Fingers tapping against her cup she said, "Well, okay, could I have a moment with my patients?"

"Knock yourself out, we're not stopping you," Chloe replied, bouncing on her heels.

"No, I mean, like alone, without you guys in the room,"

"Why?" Angel raised eyebrow.

"Because everyone else got a chance to be," Veronica remarked without the slightest bit of humor.

"Not true, Sonia was with us when she came to see them," Angel said.

"When was that?"

"A couple days ago," Chloe answered.

"Right, of course she did," She muttered to herself. "Alright fine, you can stay."

"We weren't leaving anyway," Angel grinned.

"Yeah, yeah," Veronica walked around the end of the bed and joined Angel on the left side of the bed. They watched her, curious of her intention. Veronica rolled her shoulders feeling twice awkward as she reached over and picked the chart sitting on the end of the bed where Angel had left it. She flipped through it, hoping to look busy enough that Chloe and Angel would get the hint and move on.

They didn't.

 _Might as well get it over with, Ronnie._ "Hi, um, Yancy, remember me? I'm Veronica Callahan, I am your doctor. We met before-"

"Ronnie, no offense, but what are you doing?" Angel asked, stepping away from the space Veronica was edging to get into. Veronica shrugged her shoulders. "I'm talking to him, it something I used to do with soldiers when I volunteered at the hospitals overseas," She said. "My CO, she usually recommend talking was the best therapy when there was a chance of reaching guys who'd retreated into themselves. I was a nurse, so most people expected it from me like second nature and I did it without asking, mostly."

"Well, Ronnie, I don't think he's retreated into himself, he's unconscious and on a lot of drugs," Chloe pointed out.

"I know, Chloe, thank you, it's just-," Veronica shook her head. "It's second nature when it comes to guys like him. Pilots, soldiers… they take me back, and I cope by talking to…" The hand she rested on the bed shifted, sliding away from the leg under the cover when it jerked, foot slamming against the footboard.

Veronica, Angel and Chloe lowered their gazes. Veronica eyes shifted over to Yancy. His head tried to lull over to the left, unaware of the restriction of the c-collar. The expansion of his chest followed the jerk of his body and the low whine of pain. "Oh, my God, he's moving," Chloe whispered, leaning over Raleigh's bed. "He's medicated right?"

"You just said he was, Chloe," Veronica reminded her.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect him to be awake until tomorrow later -" Chloe started.

"-Like, tomorrow later, maybe," Angel finished. "…Right?"

Veronica nodded numbly. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary, not really. She'd seen too many instances wherein a patient on sedatives woke up - sometimes, unfortunately, during surgery - carried on conversations, carried on conversations or just moved.

Yancy Becket wasn't an exception to the rule, even with the circumstances of his situation taken into account. Reaching over, Veronica placed a hand on the pilot's shoulder. "Yancy, can you hear me? It's Veronica," She said. Yancy's eyes began to flutter, but she only see the whites of his eyes. "Yancy?"

"Dr. Flanagan!" Veronica forced her gaze away and over to Chloe. Doctor Payne's wrist was restricted by the bandaged hand of Sonia's sleeping beauty. Raleigh Becket was awake.

* * *

Disaster at sea: fishermen rescued from icy gulf after Kaiju attack; 4 dead, six "critical condition"

Pan Pacific Defense Corps pulled ten bodies from the turbulent waters off Alaska's gulf Saturday after a fishing vessel, _Saltchuck_ , owned by local company, was caught in the battle between a Jaeger and Kaiju. Six of the crew is in critical condition.

By Kylie Kaillski, Naomi Sokolov and Benjamin Leslie  
Anchorage Press staff reporters

Six members of the _Saltchuck_ have been confirmed to be critical condition and not likely to survive, after a Saturday morning battle in Alaskan gulf left them stranded in rough waters over seventeen hours. Their ship was capsized during the battle and sank shortly thereafter. According to our source, they've been exposed to the toxic blood of the Kaiju, "Kaiju Blue", contaminating surrounding waters. Jumphawk pilots, assisted by the National Guard, are still searching for the bodies of the four other crew of the _Saltchuck_.

So far, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps has been shy about confirming any information on the incident. This Wednesday past, Dustin Kreiger, Secretary General of the United Nations, openly confirmed that the Kaiju's name was "Knifehead", a Category III surpassing record-breaker Yamarashi in weight and size.

Famed Mark-3 Jaeger, Gipsy Danger, was severely damaged in combat, but the Defense Corps has remains optimistic of its future in the war. He would not speak of the matter of the pilots, Anchorage locals Yancy and Raleigh Becket, other than to say that they were "good health".

Kreiger refused to disclose the location of the pilots. The general assumption is that may have been hospitalized nearby from where the Jaeger was removed. Marshal Stacker Pentecost, a former Jaeger pilot, could not be reached for comments.

On the matter of Kaiju Blue contamination, as per protocol, and the PPDC and the Coast Guard is urging that civilians remain out of the waters until the matter can be deal with by designated HAZMAT groups.

We'll update this story when we know more.

* * *

_(March 8, 2020)_

"Hello, Washington's Bakery, this Hoban speaking, how may I service you?"

Sonia should've dumped this Private Eye shtick on Veronica when she had the chance. She'd never been given the run around so many times over a simple question in the span of days.

"Hi, this is Sonia Jimenez. I'm a nurse at Regional Hospital and I'm inquiring about the whereabouts of a Jazmine Becket?"

She wasn't a cop or a detective, that was her boyfriend's department and he was currently preoccupied with undercover work. Aside from basic internet and physical yellow and white pages, searching for Jazmine and Richard Becket, there was nothing concrete or absolute.

"Regional hospital? I don't understand."

She found about six Jazmine Beckets, the only thing that narrowed her search down was that there were only three women with their names spelt with a "z" instead of an "s". That left her choices down to two. The first was about forty years of age, the others between the ages of twenty and twenty four. There were thirty Richard Beckets, all living in various locations of Alaska, three in Anchorage alone. Their father just had to the most common name in the world, didn't he?

"I'm not a liberty say exactly, but it involves- it's very important she come to the hospital. We can explain everything there," Sonia caught herself before she say anything more.

So, she tried the obituaries. She found three dead Richard Becket's in the archives from 1997 and 2020. The latter, unfortunately, was the man she was looking. The obituary noted that Richard Becket had only recently died from undiagnosed cancer developed from unchecked led poisoning from shoddy environment damage after a major Kaiju attack at a dam. That was either a work of irony or the Beckets were incredibly misfortunate.

He'd gone to spend his last days with his brother, Charles Becket, and his wife, Lydia. That left his daughter, Jazmine, in the care of his only immediate family who was still alive and working as a detective in Nome and teaching at elementary school.

Pinpointing where she went from there post-high school graduation, she thought would've been hard, but the grace of her particular name saved her a lot of paperwork.

"Is this about what happened in Anchorage?"

"Sir-"

"Hoban. Hoban Washington," He interjected. "Why can't you just tell me over the phone?"

"Privacy policy, Hoban," Sonia replied, teeth biting into the edge of her tongue. "Is there any way I can reach Ms. Becket?"

"No-"

Sonia allowed the breath she was holding to slowly escape through her gritted teeth. Did this really mean she'd have to keep searching for Jazmine, anyway?

"But I can tell Mrs. Washington that you called and that's important," Hoban finished.

"Thank you, Mr. Washington, I'd appreciate it," Sonia relayed. She waited until she heard the click on the phone. Hanging up the phone, she picked up her cell phone from the desk and headed for the third floor.

* * *

Yancy knew exactly where he was wasn't where he was supposed to be, if he was supposed to be anywhere. He could feel himself dipping in and out of moments, memories, of his life, looking for something concrete to fall on when he surfaced. It all came in flashes, like a light flipped on too fast and burned out just as quickly. Faces flickered, emotions waned, and they were dulled, swallowed underwater.

He was floundering, trying to figure out which way was up and away from the blue nightmare that lurked below him, rumbling low like a constant reminder of what he was running from.

The unfortunate part was he kept coming back to a very sick Dominique. It wasn't the only the way he remembered her, at least he tried not to, but it was the first thing that came to mind when he thought of her. Sitting on the edge of the window seat, the sting of warm sunlight hit him square in the eyes. Tears rising in his eyes encouraged him to turn away from the light that was progressively getting stronger.

Across from him, Dominique sat upright in the bed, staring into space, cigarette lying idle on the ashtray on the table next to her side of the bed. Her face, pallid and haggard, bore the marks of tears long since dried. Her makeup was – had been running just a little while ago. That part of him that was self-aware of what really happening stared at her like a ghost. She was, almost a decade later, but the part that wasn't- that part of him was hurt and angry to the point of numbness. It was all there, but so faded into the background it wasn't anything to make note of anymore. It was just there.

_Yance._

"Yancy."

_Yancy._

"What is it, mom?"

_Yancy, you gotta wake up._

_I'm not asleep._

"Yancy, où est ton frère?"

_Yance, you're -_

_Not asleep._

_This just a memory._

He sighed, brow creasing with exasperation. "Mom, speak English…"

"Pourquoi n'êtes-vous pas avec Raleigh?"

"I dunno, out with friends, probably."

"Comme c'est étrange," She coughed a little at first. Yancy didn't move, knowing these fits came and went without incident. His fingers gripped his wrists as her coughing became stronger. Disregarding his own wisdom, he climbed off the window seat and moved toward his mother. Dominique waved him off, covering her mouth with her arm. Yancy sat himself on the edge of the bed regardless, and picked the cigarette up from off the ashtray.

He put the half smoked bud out and grabbed the cup of water. Dominique lowered her arm from her mouth with a weary breath. She took the cup without comment. Her pale lips were stained the faintest shade of red, his eyes wandered down to arm of her shirt and put two and two together. "Should I call-?"

" _No_ , I'm fine and I'm just a little winded," She swallowed a little water and lowered cup to her lap.

"Maman, if there's something they can do to stop-"

"There isn't, and I'm sorry," She said.

_Yancy._

_What?_ Yancy turned away from his mother, eyes narrowed, heat rising across his skin. In the space where the sun did not reach he saw his brother, clad in his shattered armor, blue eyes catching the light like a cat. Yancy, this-

"Yancy," Dominique's hand pressed itself against his face and he tumbled back down into his memory. His hand was on hers, she'd resumed crying, her bloodshot eyes shone in the light. "I want you to do something for me."

He started to move from the bed. "You need me to-"

"No, no, nothing like that," Dominique sighed, holding him in place. "I want you to do this."

"…Okay, sure, anything," He swallowed.

"Don't sit here, waiting for something awful to happen to me," She said. "I'm sorry your father left, I'm sorry you and your brother have to take care of me, but I'm grateful you've been willing to, even if it's not your responsibility."

"Mom, you're sick. Uncle Charles is in Maine, dad's gone. There's no one here besides me and Rals to look after you," Yancy countered. "I want you to be comfortable."

"I am, I have been made as comfortable as possible, but I'm dying. And I know you know that, but please, don't sit here and dwell on the worse, because it's already happened," Dominique interjected. "When the time comes, I will die and there is nothing you can do to stop that. I will be gone and I want you to try and get past that-"

"Mom…"

"I did this, not you, not your brother, not your sister or your father. I made myself sick and that's the story-" Dominique leaned closer when he lowered his head. "So, I want you to take a walk, find your brother and enjoy yourselves. And if I'm still here when you get back, then come see me. We'll talk."

_Yancy…_

"Don't dwell."

_What?_

"Can you do that for me, Yancy?"

_Yancy, listen to me._

Yancy didn't answer right away. His head was heavy with a million different thoughts, what he was thinking (or rather feeling) at the time, what he was trying to think now- who was speaking to him, biting at the back of his mind; callouses on the palm of his hand chafed against his mother's remarkably dry skin.

_I'm listening, little brother._

When her fingers flexed against his check, he finally raised his gaze to meet his mother's. "Yeah," He breathed, the word caught in his throat. He turned to face his brother; Raleigh stood just outside the shadows, still in his drivesuit.

_Focus on me._

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Thank you." Dominique smiled and the skin of her face seemed to crack the moment Yancy turned and grabbed his hand like second nature and his own fingers close around his.

Memories come in fragments, spinning out of their control as they tumbled through the crumbling ghost drift. Emotions woven in and out of euphoric noises and torrid emotions, painted vague pictures of their childhood and adulthood, things only they could really suss out.

Yancy's grief for their overlapping circumstances overwhelmed him in the same way Raleigh's reassurance attempted to assuage his older brother. There was no holding on to what wasn't solid, what was breaking and falling apart around them. In the single instance their world became solid again it was merely to perform their former roles.

Pain, feedback, sparks and water rushed at them all at once. The non-corporeal tether between them snapped, the ground gave way beneath Yancy as he was pulled back down under the darkest part of the Conn-Pod and against the wall. Raleigh carried the burden of dying weight threatening to crush and burn him from the inside out. He wasn't in his brother's mind anymore. He was whole, spinning free in the chaos of his own memories.

Amid the pain and fire, there's the briefest instance of weightlessness, and neither man can determine direction. _Don't dwell, find your brother. Don't dwell. Don't dwell._ Water glows bioluminescent blue around them, then she breaks the surface with a low growl.

And he wakes up.

_Find your brother._

Raleigh wakes up.

"Dr. Flanagan!"

_Don't dwell._

* * *

_(March 10, 2020)_

Dustin Krieger was - or had been - a major figure in the support after his retirement from active duty as a Ranger. The fact that they hadn't set him aside without benefits is something he believed they thought he should've been thankful for, as was the way with twisted organizational thoughts. Kreiger, honestly, had been the only person among the United Nations that didn't treat him like layman unaware of what they actually thought. If anything, Kreiger tried to make Stacker's job as less complicated as possible when it didn't disadvantage him.

In some ways, Stacker could say he was responsible for getting him where he was, the feared Marshal of any given Shatterdome, were it not for the fact that the Pentecosts were raised to be self-reliant and dependent only on family ties. Kreiger got him through the door, he'd be forever thankful for that, but he'd done the rest of the legwork himself.

But that was neither here nor there. Not with what Kreiger being at the Shatterdome actually meant.

Not two hours ago, he'd gone down to the medical wing to check on the conditions of the fishermen of the _Saltchuck_. The misfortune of his arrival, however, was merely to be present the last of the four men flat line. And to be reminded of the sight, even from a distance, doctors working to keep someone alive against all odds brought him to a dark and ugly place that reminded him of all the pieces he'd lost over the course of his life. His father, mother, Luna, Duke. The only one left was Tasmin and she was slowly rotting away in her own body, just like him. To watch a man simply cease to be made an already bad situation worse.

The United Nations, the practical superiors the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, almost in spite of their own hatchery, had made their decision on the matter the "Anchorage attack". Kreiger was the man chosen to deliver the news because he was a face that Pentecost trusted, which, on their assumption was the same as swallowing arsenic and calling it sugar.

Of course, if they knew him, they'd know Dustin wasn't for playing games with a former subordinate. He just told him the truth. "What happened to those men, that is on those boys."

Dustin's gaze shifted to meet Stacker's. Pentecost regarded his former CO with look of indifference. "What? You expecting me to say something different? It is absolutely their fault."

Kreiger bit the inside of his mouth. "Right, as long as we're clear," Kreiger stood leaning against the railing of the catwalk that oversaw the fraught dismantling of the last frayed scraps of metal where Gipsy Danger's left arm used to be.. "You know you can't turn an eye on this, not for them. You start doing that now, and everyone will expect the same treatment."

"Special treatment is the last thing I'd give them, Secretary-General," Pentecost snorted bitterly. "The Beckets disobeyed an order, terminated communications. So far as the radar and their own team tell me, they went after the boat first and Kaiju took advantage of their vulnerability. Everything in between that? That's for them to tell us, innit?"

"Any soldier worth their salt isn't going to take responsibility to the deaths of ten men, Stacker," Kreiger scoffed. "Not even you're that noble."

"With all due respect, sir, you don't know me as well you think," Pentecost said. "The UN isn't asking for something I haven't already considered doing."

"Yes, well, it is within reason and no one is gonna question it once the story gets out," Kreiger said. "Two pilots deliberately cut all communications, disobey a superior order and said disobedience gets ten men killed? They're as good as dead, publicly. Politically, they'll never see the inside of a Jaeger again."

"And by rights, they shouldn't, not after what happened, I agree."

"You're tecchie, he told you none of the damage sustained by the Conn-Pod indicated their radio went out before the fight?"

"Correct."

"Then why the hesitation?"

What Pentecost didn't say with words, he said with his eyes.

"You wanna hear it from them why they terminated communications," Kreiger finished.

"No, I know why they did it, I just want to _hear_ it from them," Pentecost corrected him, pushing away from the railing. The man was disappointed in one ways than one. The failure of a few reflected badly on the PPDC, but they weren't technically about sequestering their problems away in a corner from the public. Either way, this was going to land badly on Pentecost's shoulders, perhaps worse than that of the pilots that caused the problem in the first place.

"What should I tell them?" Kreiger asked after a moment. "They want to jump on this as soon as possible."

"How soon is "possible" for them?"

"Before this Monday."

"The sixteenth?"

Kreiger nodded.

"Tell them they'll have my decision before then."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thus far, this story has seemed to place itself smack in the middle of the worst time of my life. That said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm in the process of writing the next as we speak. Feel free to leave a review if you want.

Also, **according to Google Translate (aka, most inaccurate, mostly, translation machine):**

Maman, je veux me réveiller / "Mom, I want to wake up"

Yancy, où est ton frère? / "Yancy, where is your brother?"

Pourquoi n'êtes-vous pas avec Raleigh? / "Why aren't you with Raleigh?"

Comme c'est étrange / "How Strange"

* * *

**Next:** "The Prince of Youth" - Things go from bad to worse for Raleigh when Jazmine arrives on the call of Sonia Jimenez and Stacker Pentecost comes to a final decision on the matter of the Beckets as the public is made aware of the past situation with Knifehead.


	4. 004: The Price of Youth (Part I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Author's Note:** So these are parts of Chapter Four I don't think worked with the flow the chapter (which I'm still working on. It's pretty long by my standards), but I wanted to continue to establish the recovery timeline, so I just separated them. Raleigh and Yancy officially regained consciousness March 5, 2020, Raleigh's the only one who maintains it, however. Anyhow, we won't be at the hospital for much longer. Chapter 5 is officially the last we see of it (there's a lot of time jumping in that as well), considering, there's only so much you can do with out-of-commission/bedridden characters before it gets boring. Constructive concrit would be lovely, as I'm pretty sure I got my hospital/medical wires crossed, even with the amount of research I'm doing on account of differing procedure (or a misunderstanding of them). Thanks for sticking with me here and for all your kind words, guys, I truly appreciate it.
> 
> * * *

(March 5, 2020):

Preoccupied with the methodology of Veronica's bedside manner, what signs of consciousness from Raleigh Becket Chloe may have noticed if she were otherwise disengaged, went ignored.

Until he grabbed her.

Standing ramrod straight, with his hand gripping onto her wrist like someone who was afraid of drowning, Chloe was fucking with her flight or fight response. Holding back her scream, fighting to maintain some semblance of her self-control, Chloe did the first thing that came to mind after "punch him in the face". "Dr. Flanagan!"

Veronica looked up from the twitching Yancy and in a matter of seconds assessed the situation in front of her. "Angel, go get Harris," She said.

"What about Sonia?" Angel stopped short of bolting out of the room.

"Her too, if you can find her! Go!" She cried. Angel was out the door not a second later, hoodie drawstrings flapping around him as he darted down the hall and around obstacles. Veronica joined Chloe at Raleigh's bed, reaching over she steadied Chloe's arm with one hand and gripped Raleigh's wrist with her other. Moving them in opposite directions, she pulled Chloe's arm away from Raleigh's hand. Chloe took a step back from the bed, rubbing her wrist. "Shouldn't we get Janice instead?"

Veronica shrugged. "Probably, but I figure we get our boss first, then deal with Janice," She said. At the present, PACU weren't taking too kindly to the amount of traffic their ward was getting because their patients happened to be famous. Janice, one of the two individuals assigned to Raleigh and Yancy's recovery, took particular issue Veronica's group - nevermind they were still officially her patients.

Raleigh opened his eyes half way and closed immediately after when the light hit him dead on. The transition from vague sensation tumbled into full blown pain that spread from his right shoulder down to his ankle. His left side felt completely numb, itching with pins and needles. "Raleigh? Mr. Becket, can you hear me?" The voice of a young woman, high and uncertain, rang in his ears. He opened his eyes again, expecting more light to sting them. Instead two figures hovered overhead, their heads practically bumping together as they waited for a response.

"H-his vitals seem fine?" The nervous voice came again.

"I think the machine would tell us if they weren't Chlo bug. Relax," Raleigh felt a hand slip into his and squeeze his palm. "Raleigh, I want you to squeeze my hand if you can hear me, okay? Nothing major, just a little squeeze," The voice of the other woman was far calmer than her companion.

His brain scrambled to push past the pain. He could feel his left arm moving, but it didn't feel connected to his body. Veronica watched as the pilot's fingers brushed against her knuckles, they closed around her hand and gave a slight squeeze. "Good job. First off, hi, nice to see you're awake, and are you in any pain?"

Raleigh managed a small nod of his head. "Can you tell me where?"

"...Bro."

"Bro? What is that a Jaeger acronym for something?" Chloe asked, checking the fluid in the IV bag.

"What? No, Chloe, use your doctor brain," Veronica chided. "Yancy's fine, okay? He's right across from you. Chloe, go check on him."

"I am, I am! I'm just freaking out, I mean, he's awake," Chloe removed herself from the corner she'd stepped into as Angel and Dan Harris entered the room, short of breath. "I came as soon as I heard, what seems to be the problem?"

"There's no problem, one of the Becket's woke up," Veronica relayed. Harris paused at the end of Raleigh's bed, his jaw shifted under his beard as he shot a sidelong look at Veronica. "Then why contact me? This was yours and Anspaugh's case."

"Last I remember, you wanted to be kept abreast of the details, Harris," Veronica said, ignoring the snort from Chloe. "Also, we should probably contact the Shatterdome; let them know something's changed with their condition."

"Well, yes, that's a job for a nurse," Harris shot a look at Angel, who was more than happy to roll his eyes at his superior.

Veronica felt her hand being squeezed again, she looked down. Raleigh's head was turned toward his brother; he was trying to get his attention. Chloe was looking Yancy over, eyes wandering over to the EKG occasionally. Veronica began to wonder when she saw his eyes blink at Chloe. Her friend leaned back and pointed. "Ronnie, he's awake, too," Chloe said.

"Seriously?" Veronica turned to regard Raleigh, his hand was still around hers, and the distress had yet to leave his face. Was this a symptom of the drift or something?

"Yancy, can you hear me?" Chloe yelled straight into his face.

Yancy groaned.

Veronica shushed her. "Chloe, not so loud. People on the floor above can hear you."

"Oh, right, sorry," Chloe cleared her throat. "Yancy, I'm Chloe Payne. I'm a doctor, and you're in a hospital."

"Dr. Payne, aren't there other patients you should be attending to?" Harris asked.

"No, technically, my shift is over, and-"

"Then perhaps you should be elsewhere besides the hospital, unless you're vying for overtime pay?"

"No, but, I just wanted to- I'm just really worried about them, Dr. Harris."

"Dr. Payne, your concern is noted, now excuse yourself until the next shift starts," Even when Harris wasn't trying to be condescending to his staff, he somehow managed to be. Such a skill in and of itself was to be admired if you weren't the target of his irritation.

"Fine, I'll go," Chloe raised her hands in surrender then turned back to Yancy. "I have to go, but Ronnie and Angel will take good care of you, okay?" If Yancy understood her he made no visible indication of it beyond closing his eyes. Sonia jogged into the room as Chloe began to make her exit, somewhat sweaty, out of breath and holding a half empty bottle of sprite in her hand. "I got the message, they're awake?!"

Angel gave his friend the once over. "Where have you been that you worked up a sweat?"

Sonia waved him off. "I took the stairwell."

"I have to go now," Chloe said. Sonia watched her friend go with only mild concern. She knew Chloe's shift was over, and she suspected - from the feigned look of innocence on Harris's face, that she just got kicked out.

"Okay, well, I'll see you later tonight, Chlo bug," Sonia didn't stop to catch the appreciative smile on Chloe's face, she continued toward Raleigh's bed. "Switch?" She asked Veronica.

"Switch, definitely," Veronica and Sonia moved past each other toward their respective sides of the brother's bed. Yancy opened his eyes again. Veronica had positioned herself over Yancy so that her head was blocking the light. "Hey, Yancy."

"Maman?" Yancy slurred. Veronica paused in whatever she intended to say next and puzzled over what he said.

"He said, "mother" in French," Harris provided, joining Veronica's side. Veronica rolled her eyes. Of course Harris would know that. "Mr. Becket, I'm doctor Harris. Do you remember what happened to you?"

"…Hit an iceberg, lost Maman," Yancy's response was no more coherent than the last time. "I can't feel my arm."

Harris frowned, concerned.

"Harris, he's pretty sedated, it's the drugs talking," Veronica whispered.

"That's a given, Dr. Flanagan," Harris replied coolly. "Still, you told me he lost consciousness before you arrived here at the hospital."

"Yes, he did. It was shortly after he regained consciousness in the helicopter. We thought it might be something serious, but the CT didn't show any signs of edema, there was no internal bleeding or cranial damage we could see," Veronica elaborated. "Before surgery, he regained consciousness."

"Did he say anything?"

"No," Veronica's gaze shifted back over to Yancy. Eyes at half-mass, he was staring at her (at least she thought he was). "He was conscious for five minutes, that's it. He's been under until now."

"I see," Harris said. "Has anyone attempted to contact his family?"

"Uh, we're actually still in the process of finding their family," Sonia said.

Harris regarded Sonia with an incredulous look. "Why is that?"

"Uh, there was a problem with their contacts, they're all pretty much outdated," Sonia explained. "I tried contacting the Shatterdome, but I kept getting a busy signal."

"Well, keep trying them until you get some kind of answer," Harris said. "In the meantime, they're in good hands. The PACU can and will monitor them, so let them do their jobs and go do yours."

"Sure thing," Veronica said, stepping away. Harris departed from the room, leaving Angel, Sonia and Veronica on their own. The trio regarded each other uncertain glances. "Where are Janice and Ricardo, anyway?" Sonia asked.

"On break," Angel replied, joining Sonia at Raleigh's bed. "They've been on since last week morning watching these two birds. Did I mention they hate all the visitors?"

Sonia snorted. "I can imagine," She looked down at Raleigh. The pilot's eyes were still open and on his brother. "Am I high?" He asked.

"Are there pink elephants?" Angel barely finished his sentence before Sonia slapped him on the arm.

"I- I don't think so?" Raleigh turned so that he was facing both Sonia and Angel. Sonia placed a hand on his chest. "You aren't high, Mr. Becket, I promise," She said. "You're in recovery." Raleigh's face contorted with pain and dismay as he tried to find a comfortable spot on the bed. "Can't hear my brother."

"He's sleeping right now, Raleigh. You wouldn't hear much of anything," And to be honest, Veronica wasn't sure when the older Becket drifted off again. Either way, Raleigh was on his way back down the rabbit hole himself.

* * *

(March 6, 2020)

He usually came around when she wasn't expecting him. He liked to surprise her, and lately, he seemed to be doing it a lot whenever she visited Yancy and Raleigh, and it was hard not react in a room occupied with other people.

Standing next to Janice, who was already growing tired of Veronica and co.'s frequent visits, the last thing she wanted to do was let out some pathetic squeak because he decided it was a good idea to cover her eyes and whisper "Guess who?" into her ear. Janice looked away from Yancy's EKG and blinked. "What is your problem?"

Veronica covered her mouth with her and smiled nervously. "I'm- I'm sorry, I thought there was a spider on my arm, and freaked out," She said.

"Big soldier girl like you afraid of spiders?" Janice asked, raising an eyebrow at her unwanted companion. Veronica shrugged her shoulders as he pulled her away from the bed. "What can I say, I really hate spiders."

Janice gave her a look. She didn't believe him.

"Could you just- I'll be right back? I have to take care something," She said.

"Take all the time you need. I could use the space," Janice said. Veronica reframed from responding to the indirect jibe and followed him out of the room toward the nearest closet. She shoved him inside narrow room and closed the door behind them. "Mike, could you be any more of a dick?"

"What? C'mon, Ronnie, you said you liked surprises," He grinned at her in his usual manner, shrugging off her anger.

"Not at work and not in front of people like Janice. I mean- are you trying to make me look crazy?"

"Well, I had to do something, you've been ignoring me for days," Mike stepped away from the shelf, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And it's not like I did anything to distract you, so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal?" Veronica balked. "The big deal is that I need you to respect that fact that I don't want to talk to or see you. Not right now."

"Well, when do you want to talk to me?"

"When I want to, I'll let you know," Veronica turned away from him and started back toward the door. Mike was at her side immediately, pressing his hand against the door as it opened. The door closed against his weight, Veronica glared at him. "Mike let go of the door."

"Look, I get it. You're mad me-"

"Mad at you?" She shoved him. The shelf behind him rattled as its contents fell to the ground. He gripped the edge of the shield with one hand and reached out for her with other.

"Ronnie-"

"No. You left me, Mike. No warning, you were just gone. And I'm supposed to just forgive you?"

To his credit, Mike actually looked remorseful. "It wasn't on purpose, babe, I promise."

Veronica scoffed. Early on, she might've accepted such an idea. Now, almost three years after his departure, it was hard not to blame him, even if the situation was completely out of her control. She met Sonia in Anchorage alone after leaving Los Angeles and no real sense of what to do with her life. She managed to cobble together some semblance of an existence, throwing herself back into her work with the PPDC and the hospital. Denise helped her through the worst of it, the rest she worked out on her own or stuffed into the back of the mind.

And to have him come back, without warning and so persistently, it threw her off and made her more irritable than she needed to be. "Look, if what you want is more space, I can give that to you," He said, maintaining his position against the door. "Just- please, don't ignore me."

Veronica bit the inside of her lip. "I'll think about, Mike. That's all I can say." Opening the door, Veronica walked out of the closet. As she turned, she did a double take at the woman standing against the wall across from the closet. "Hey, Son," She said. Sonia gave her friend a sort of sad smile. "You and Mike fighting again?" Sonia asked.

Veronica wasn't sure how to answer her friend.

"Ronnie."

Sonia watched Veronica's head turn slightly toward the closet door. "Have you talked to Denise lately?"

"No, not recently," Veronica replied.

"Ronnie, please-"

"Shut up, Mike, I said I'd think about it," She snapped before she really thought about what she was saying. Her heart stopped the same time Mike fell silent. Sonia pushed away from the wall and extended the hand that was holding a clipboard. "You should try, she's been calling me. Asking me where you've been," Sonia explained.

Veronica shrugged, taking the clipboard. "Doesn't she know I'm not living with you anymore?"

"No, but, I figure that's because you haven't told her."

"Damn it," Veronica whispered. "Look, all I can say is that I'll try, Son. This isn't easy for me."

Sonia didn't say anything. "Yeah, well, your cast kid in four needs some of your attention. Try to get to that," Sonia headed down the left of the hall, opposite the Becket's bedroom. Veronica bit inside of her mouth as Mike stepped out of the closet, hands back in his pockets. "Didn't know you told Sonia about me being back," He said.

"I didn't. She figured it out on her own," Veronica hung her head. "I need you to leave now, Mike."

"Okay. I'll see you later, sweetheart," Raising his hands in mock surrender he disappeared down the hall. Veronica followed suit, forcing herself away from the Becket's bedroom.

* * *

(March 7, 2020)

Raleigh dipped in and out of consciousness, remembering nothing of the encounter he had with any of the PACU staff, Veronica, Angel, Chloe or more importantly, Sonia, who was more of a constant in the broken pieces of his memories. Okay, maybe to say he didn't remember is something of a misnomer: the things she did, maybe he couldn't recall any of that, but the shape of her - the way her hair seemed to climb on top of itself to create the crown on her heard - he remembered that, mostly because he couldn't figure out what if it was really her hair.

That was probably a stupid thing to think, but as long as he didn't say it aloud if he was saying anything.

He woke up sick once. That he remembered, because of the pain. The ache that smarted in his side, his head and ankle when he tried to move as close to the edge of the bed as possible. He vomited what he figured was the water they were giving him, because they weren't feeding him anything.

He heard a yell and feared the worse when it was followed up with a laugh and groan. "You just had to vomit on me, didn't you?" Sonia again, the other voice he didn't recognize.

He heard laughter in the background, Sonia responded, but his ears were starting to ring. Eyes at half mass he remembered glance up to regard the crown haired Sonia, her pants and shoes covered in his regurgitation. "S-s-sorry," He coughed, pressing his face into the pillow. "Didn't see you."

"And you probably won't remember this either- Chloe, this is not funny. Go get something to clean this up!"

"Why me?"

"Because I can't. I'm covered in this shit," Sonia snapped, perhaps a little too loudly. "Can't believe I got puked on. This hasn't happened since I was working in peds Hurry up, Chloe."

"Okay, okay!" The sound of departing footfalls followed the touch of a hand to his forehead. "C'mere, sit up for a sec, floppy bird," He felt Sonia adjusting his dead weight accordingly. He tried to balance himself, but he couldn't get his right side to respond, so he went with the gravity that pulled him in her direction. She was pretty soft. "Hey, jockey, my boobs are not a pillow, sit up," She admonished pushing him away.

Raleigh tried to open his eyes again, the light hit him square in the eyes and he felt sick again. He jerked in Sonia's grasp, she paused, eyebrows rising. "I swear if you throw up on me again, you will be sorry," She said. The worst that came from him was a halfhearted burp. Sonia's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Gross, what did you eat?"

"I'm not dying, am I?" Raleigh groaned, resting his forehead on her shoulder.

"No, you're fine. Just not agreeing with the anesthesia that's still in your system," Sonia assured him, raising an eyebrow. "It's rare, but it happens."

"Shit."

"I know the feeling," Sonia grumbled as Chloe returned running back into room. "Okay, I found some paper towels, baby wipes and I got a pair of spare pants from your locker."

"Why didn't you just call the janitor?"

"I- you told me get something to clean up the mess!" Chloe argued.

"Yeah, the mess on _me_. The rest of it could've been handled by the janitor," Sonia raised an eyebrow. "And how did you get into my locker?"

"Um... Veronica let me in?" She said, approaching the bed. Sonia sucked teeth. Veronica's thieving ways had yet to rectify itself. In this case she'd let it slide, she was not walking around in vomit pants. "Give me the towels and the pants," Sonia said. Chloe handed Sonia the pants and towels. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she asked, "Are you thirsty, Mr. Becket?"

"I'm hungry," Raleigh said.

"Well, I can check with Ricardo, make sure it's okay, but otherwise, I think it's safer to drink water until then," Chloe replied.

"I'm sure some applesauce won't hurt, Chlo bug," Sonia suggested. "Crackers, maybe?"

"Um, okay, but, I'm asking Ricardo or Janice," Chloe said rising from the bed. Sonia shrugged, not caring either way. "Be right back with the water, Mr. Becket."

Raleigh made something of a noncommittal noise in response as Chloe departed from the room a second time. Sonia proceeded to wipe his face of any trace of his vomit, nose wrinkling at the smell. "For a guy who hasn't eaten in a several days, you smell like you could lose the beef."

"Beef's the best. Better than chicken," Raleigh said.

"Nothing is better than chicken, except maybe fish," Sonia rebuked. "And it doesn't back up your system. Have you've been experiencing any kind of pain since your last bandage change?"

"H-how's my brother?"

"Mr. Becket-"

"Raleigh... call me, Raleigh."

Sonia rolled her eyes. " _Raleigh_ , please answer the question."

"A bit."

"Where?"

"My shoulder, and in my ankle, just now," He explained. "Is he alright?"

"Yancy, so far as I know, is fine. He was a bit slower to wake up, but that's natural for someone who's lost as much blood as he did," Sonia helped him settle back into the bed.

"That's not- serious is it?"

"Nope. Like I said, it's perfectly normal. We're keeping an eye on him, so we'll be able help at the first sign of danger," Sonia assured him. "Don't sweat it, kid, you're both in good hands."

"Thanks," He closed his eyes. Sonia cast a glance over at the clock. It was almost time to head home. "Look, Raleigh, I've gotta go and get my pretty self cleaned up. So, I'm gonna borrow your bathroom, and then I'm gonna skidoo outta here."

"Where you going?"

"Uh, I have a date."

"Lucky guy."

"You mean lucky television set. I'm marathoning _How to Get Away with Murder_."

"Never... heard of it."

"Well, once you're allowed into the general ward, maybe I'll let you borrow my DVDs or something."

"Sounds great," Raleigh gave her a halfhearted laugh. "I'll keep my fingers crossed."

* * *

(March 9, 2020)

In an attempt to avoid questions, Veronica decreased the amount of times she visited the Beckets. She kept tabs on them, only for crucial updates, but otherwise avoided the PACU. She was actively avoiding Sonia after their conversation; confronting her now would mean she'd have to ask questions about why she was talking to Mike again and that wasn't something she wanted to dig into at all. Sonia seemed preoccupied with looking for Jazmine and Richard Becket anyway, so that was a good sign for her.

Her controlled visited, however, lasted for a day and a half. When Veronica returned to the PACU, Janice was on her way out of the room. "What are you doing here again?" Janice asked.

"Taking a lunch break," Veronica replied.

"Um, shouldn't you be downstairs working?"

She honestly should've been. Tucking the clipboard she dragged from the first floor behind her back, she shrugged. "Like I said, I'm on break and I thought I'd visit my patients," Veronica said. An easy enough deflection, though from the look on Janice's face, Veronica was beginning to believe the woman didn't believe a thing that came out of her mouth on principle. Rolling her eyes, Janice stepped around Veronica and started down the hall.

"You better not be here when I get back, Dr. Flanagan," Janice called over her shoulder.

"You're not my mother, Janice," Veronica shot back as she approached Yancy's bed. She sat the clipboard on the edge of the bed as she focused her attention on his EKG, though she was hardly interested in it, considering his heart rate was going steady for now. There really wasn't much for her to do here, all things considered.

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that I know you're gonna be okay, you'd think I was worried about you dying on my watch or something," Veronica joked. "So, what am I doing here, exactly, when there's a nice older woman who needs her temp checked out?"

She glanced down at him. He seemed paler than she remembered. Even covered in bruises, he was attractive, and she was attracted to him - physically, anyway. There was no denying that, but she wasn't one of those creepy doctors that crept around with the hots for their patients. At least, she hoped she wasn't. Extending her arm, she placed her hand on the side of his face. Pale, cold, and bruised; Veronica's brow wrinkled. There was a sigh from Yancy, almost exasperated from the sound of it. Moving her hand from his hand, she moved to inspect his side when he opened his eyes. Veronica paused. "Hey, hi," She said. "You're awake again."

"…Hi," He slurred. "Who…?"

"I'm Veronica, your doctor," Veronica pointed at the badge on her jacket with her free hand. "How are you?"

"I don't… know… exactly," Yancy replied.

"Okay, how about any pain?"

"Why am I… here?"

Veronica bit her lip. There was a way to do this and way to fuck it up. "Um, there was a fight. You and your brother, you were sent out to fight a Kaiju in your Jaeger and there was an accident." Yancy stared at her blank faced for a moment, he wasn't sure what she was saying to him. "I don't …remember that."

"Well, it was a big one, the Kaiju, I mean. I think you guys called it Knifehead?" Veronica told him.

"We lost?"

"No!" She cried. "No, you didn't lose. That thing—it's dead."

"No way."

"Way."

Experiencing the same predicament as his brother, Yancy struggled to find some semblance of balance whenever he surfaced too close to consciousness. He felt dizzy and light headed, like any part of him was ready to float away and disappear. What he remembered, it didn't fit anything she was telling him. "Doesn't feel like it."

"Yeah, I don't think your boss is happy with you right now, or something," Veronica smiled at him, but he continued to stare, befuddled by the proximity of her presence. Something woke him up and it wasn't her, whoever she was. He wasn't particularly in any kind of mood to be awake and aware of anything right now, so he tried to focus on the slow tapping that was coming from somewhere in the room. "Look," Her voice came up from the foggy background. He opened his eyes again and tried to focus on her progressively blurring face. "Hmm?"

"If you're worried about your brother? Raleigh's okay," She had this look, he figured, like she giving him the greatest news in the world. Of course Raleigh was okay, what else would he be? "Okay," He groaned, closing his eyes. "Hey… Ronnie…" Veronica looked up, trying to ignore the skip her heartbeat just made at the sound of her nickname in lieu with the six second beep from monitor next to her that began to repeat itself.

"Yeah, M-Yancy?" She replied.

"I'm actually… feeling kinda cold…now, anyway," He managed to say.

"All over?" Veronica ventured carefully, moving around the bed. She was only beginning to the notice pinkish tinge to his top sheet wasn't a trick of the lighting.

"…I think so," Yancy replied. "That count as pain?"

"It's a symptom, sometimes," Grabbing the sheet, Veronica began to pull it away from his body when she slipped. The sudden loss of vertical stability shocked her, she dropped like a rock, landing hard on her ass. Her foot jammed between the tiny space between the bed, Veronica tried to ignore the delirious little laugh that from Yancy that followed the sudden shift from Raleigh across the room. "Did Janice spill her soda, or somet-" Veronica pulled her hand away from the ground and stared.

"…Is that blood?" Raleigh asked, bewildered.

Veronica didn't answer. Pulling herself off the ground, she grabbed the remote hanging on the side of the bed and began to press the call button rapidly.


	5. 004: The Price of Youth (Part II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second part of "The Price of Youth" is particularly dialog heavy and in a manner I'm not quite accustomed to, so there may be kinks that need to be worked out with regard to this particular writing style. There's at least one Monologue I'm not entirely sure came out the way I wanted, but I hope there is some type of impact (you'll tell me regardless in a review). This chapter comes later than I would've liked (like a month and half-ish later), but with the end of the school year coming, I should be able to focus on this far more depending on my spirits. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for your penitence.

* * *

(March 9, 2020):

"Hey, answer me! Is that blood?" Raleigh tried to shout. Veronica glared at him for barely half a second before focusing her attention back on Yancy. She checked his side, his bandage and sheet was soaked through. "Yancy, did you know about this?" She asked. Yancy shook his head - or tried to despite the restriction of his neck. Veronica pulled her gloves on. Reaching down she gingerly touched his side. Yancy gasped at the sharp pain that traveled across his side into his stomach.

She looked at him. "I barely touched you," She said. The look he gave her said he didn't care. He closed his eyes and tried fall back into oblivion. Veronica grabbed a pair of scissors; she cut away at the bandage to reveal red skin inflamed and tender to the touch. The stitches had torn away, opening the wound. "Shit-" She grabbed the remote and pressed it franticly. "I need some help in here!" She called.

Yancy opened his eyes again. Things were no less in focus than they were the last time, so he tried to focus on Veronica. He watched her move around the bed to his right. Groggy, but frightened, he tried to move. The parts of his body that weren't numbed spasmed violently. His twisted in bed, adding to the pain; the sound that came out of him did not sound human, maybe it wasn't even from him. Raleigh watched, felt his brother's pain through his cry. His heart dropped at the sight of blood on Veronica's pants and arms.

"Hey- hey, Yance. Listen to me, you're gonna be okay."

"…Shaddup, Raleigh…" Yancy moaned.

Veronica shot the younger Becket a sideway glance. "Just keep talking to him, Raleigh," She said.

Raleigh nodded. "Listen, when we get over of this-"

"Try focusing on your brother's voice, okay?"

"We're going to take the biggest break and go France-"

"I can't," He hissed.

"We're going to see mom's hometown-"

"Sure you can, just treat it like drifting-"

"And we'll visit her old house-"

"No… I can't move my arm," He interjected. "Why can't move my arm?"

"He can't move?"

"It's his right arm, Raleigh. Yancy, you probably strained a muscle. Your back got banged up pretty bad in the fight- hey! Where is anyone?!" Veronica watched his heart rate decelerate, she grabbed his numb hand. "Relax, we're right here." Yancy regarded with water eyes as nurses came rushing into the room. Ricardo was at the head of them. He paled at the sight of blood running down Veronica's arm. "What did you do?" He blurted.

"Nothing! His sutures reopened. Why didn't you notice?" Veronica maintained her place on the right of the bed.

"There was no sign of it at all," Ricardo regarded the man's bleeding side. "Great, it's infected. How long as it been like this?"

"I don't know, I just noticed it," Veronica replied curtly, watching him pull on some gloves. "It's tender, I barely touched it and he reacted." As though to confirm what she told him, Ricardo pressed his hand against the edge of injury. Veronica placed her hands on his shoulders and prevented Yancy was bucking upward when he was hit another wave of pain. Behind her, she could hear Raleigh straining to be heard, demanding to know what they were doing to his brother.

"We need to get him to an O.R.," Veronica said. "Ricardo, see if you can't get him a room and page Janice."

"Maybe you should clean yourself up, first, Dr. Flanagan," Ricardo replied. Veronica shot the PACU attendant a pointed look. "Just do what I asked. I'll take care of everything else."

Ricardo gave the doctor a look of resignation, but nodded anyway. Careful to keep her free hands out of her hair, she focused her attention on Raleigh. The youngest Becket looked ready to faint; he had one leg hanging out of the bed and both hands bracing the edge of the bedframe. "Why is he bleeding again? I thought you had it under control?"

"Look, there was a complication with his sutures, it happens. We're going to take care of it," Veronica explained.

"Someone said it was infected," Raleigh said.

"It is, but it's nothing we can't fix, you don't have to worry," Veronica continued to assure him. Raleigh looked doubtful. His watched Yancy. His brother's complexion was pale, his face contorted with pain. "He's going to be fine." She focused on Yancy. He wasn't paying attention to anyone. His teeth were gritted, and his breath came out in short stifled breaths. "You hear me, Yancy? You're going to be fine."

"N-no… promises, doc," He coughed.

* * *

(March 11, 2020):

Based on Harris's recommendation, Raleigh Becket was moved into the general ward sometime during Yancy's operation. And he was a sour puss about the entire situation, understandably so. Sonia knew he was concerned about his brother. At the time, Veronica had yet to come down to see her for any real notification, the bottleneck temper that was practically rising to the top of a barely restrained pilot was not doing the situation any favor.

A simple warning with the threat of anesthetic knock out calmed him down for most of the elevator ride, but Sonia knew not even threatening to knock him out if he got out of hand was going to keep his temper in check if he went on any longer without a progress report about his brother.

Checking on him that morning, Raleigh had calmed down, but was less than pleased he'd been separated from his brother. He was sitting up, staring at the wall. There were two ways Sonia could approach the situation before her: Waltz into the room sunshine and rainbows, sing "Good Morning" and hand him an umbrella she didn't own. Or respect the fact that her patient wasn't exactly in the mood for the bubbly nurse routine and play it cool.

Play it cool, Sonia. That always works _._ She raised a hand to knock on the edge of the doorframe as Raleigh turned. His black and blue profile gave her pause for the slightest second before she smiled at him. Raleigh looked relieved to see her. "Hey," Sonia entered the room. "Good morning."

"Hey, Miss-"

"Ah," Sonia raised her hands in her objection. "Call me Sonia. It's only Miss Jimenez if you're nasty."

"What?" If Raleigh could look more confused he probably could've. He winced at the slightest pull of his muscles in his face, and winced. "Nothing, it's a joke," Sonia situated herself beside his bed. "How are you this morning, Raleigh?"

"Oh, I'm fine, just a little sore," As he spoke, his attention was repeatedly drawn toward his brother's vacancy. Sonia followed his gaze over to the empty bed his brother once occupied. Sonia wasn't one for looking a gift horse in the mouth, but she was wondering when Raleigh was going to start complaining.

He woke up and startled the living daylights out of Chloe who nearly hit him with her stethoscope and the biggest concern wasn't his pain, but his brother. When the wound in his brother's side reopened, the only thing he was worried about was his brother's recovery. Yancy had come out of surgery a second time, alive and stable, but even less responsive than last time.

Janice, Ricardo and Veronica spend god-knows-how-long in the office with Harris, trying to suss out where they'd gone wrong with Yancy. None of them, so far as they knew, had done anything to compromise the sutures. Janice and Veronica speculated he'd managed to move in some way that reopened them, Ricardo believed it was an inevitable outcome given the nature of the wound, "and the infection was likely present already considering what injured him," He argued.

Either way, Harris wasn't a happy camper and he feared that the PPDC or the kid's family would attempt some kind of retribution for what happened to him. Sonia thought he was being dramatic, but that was her. Family had sued a hospital for much less than reopened sutures and unresponsive patient.

"You know, you don't have to lie because you're worried about your brother. We're not gonna treat him any less if we know something's up with you," Sonia reminded him.

"I know, I know- I'm just-"

"Worried about your brother, we've established that. But, I wanna talk about you. How are you doing, be honest. Martyrdom isn't treatable and it's not cue, either."

"My back is killing me, my arm still feels tingly, my shoulder hurts like crazy and I wanna get out of this bed and see my brother," Raleigh answered. "How's that for honest?"

"It's a start," Sonia remarked. "How long have you had this back pain?"

"Since I tried to get out of the bed when Yancy's sutures- you know," He said. Sonia nodded quietly. "Well, it's probably nothing serious, but it's probably best that you don't make any more sudden movements like you did," She said, placing a hand on the small of his back. He winced the moment her fingers, cool against his warm skin, made contact with his spine. "That hurt?"

"Yeah, definitely," Raleigh replied with another wince. "Can I get anything for it?"

"Sure can, but I need to tell you something first," Moving her hand from his back, Sonia angled herself so that she was primary in his field of vision. "What is it?" He looked worried. "It's not-"

"No, it's not your brother, relax. I got in contact with the Shatterdome," Sonia explained. "They wanna bring you in for a brain scan."

"A brain scan?"

"Yeah, that thing where they check for drift trauma or something?"

"No, I know what it is, I don't see the point. I'm fine," Raleigh said.

"Not according to them," She sat on the edge of the bed, careful of his leg. "They're saying before they lost all communications, the guy monitoring your fight-"

"Tendo Choi," A small smile graced his lips, eliciting another twitch of pain in his face.

"Yeah, Tendo Choi, he said the right side of your cockpit went dead and that you were the only person connected to the Jaeger," Sonia explained. "They said it was barely under a twenty minutes, but they're concerned."

Of course they would be. Single neural connections to a Jaeger were documented to be dangerous. The first pilot they attempted to get control the Jaeger died from a seizure triggered by the neural overload; the second only survived on account of the timely chance taken by the drift's creator, Caitlin Lightcap. No one that he knew of ever piloted a Jaeger solo and lived to tale, not as a whole person anyway. "They think there might be something wrong me because I solo drifted when my brother got disconnected," It wasn't a question so much as it himself putting the pieces of Sonia's words together.

She nodded. "That's the thinking."

"What about my brother? Doesn't this work both ways? What if something worse happened to him because we got disconnected?"

"Well, I don't know how all this works one hundred percent. Can they brain scan someone who's not conscious?"

Raleigh shook his head. "I don't know, I've never been in this position before," He said after a moment. "When do they want to see me?"

"They said they're arriving in about three hours to bring you to the Shatterdome, so we've gotta get you ready," Sonia said.

"Now? Is that safe?"

"The worst of your injuries are the burns and the broken ankle, they're manageable if we keep you nice and covered up," Sonia shrugged. "You're A-Okay to move about the country to an extent."

"Can I see my brother first?"

"I definitely think that's a possible, Mr. Becket," Sonia said. "I'll just to get you a wheelchair, and a robe and we're set." Raleigh watched her walk out of the room with some feeling of relief. She returned a few moments later, she had a rob hanging from her shoulder as she wheeled a chair into the room. "Okay, your transportation and robe are here," She sighed.

"Thanks."

She helped him into the robe, careful of his injuries. Raleigh let out a sigh of relief when he was finally situated inside the warmth of the overly long robe.

"Okay, this might sting a little, bear with me," Ducking in his arm, she situated her arm around his waist and slowly began to move him toward the bed. Raleigh's breath hitched with every move he made, she kept her touch light but firm as he moved away from the bed. The balance of weight shifted, Raleigh's right foot hit the ground and tipped toward Sonia. She braced herself against the floor, struggling to keep upright against a hundred and eighty seven pounds of dead weight. "You definitely need to lay off the red meat," She grunted, positioning him in front of the wheel chair.

"You're just full of jokes today, Miss Jimenez," Raleigh said without the slightest bit of humor.

"That's me, a regular joker." She successfully managed to sit him in the chair. Raleigh's expression was sour and she suspected it was because of his back pain. "You okay?"

"Uh, no, my back still hurts," Raleigh grouched. "When can I have something for the pain?"

"Maybe before you get ready to leave, you'll be moving around a lot then," Sonia replied. "Look, before I take you to see your brother, there is something else you need to know. And no! It's not about your brother, calm down."

"What is it, now?"

"Back before you were awake, we couldn't get in touch with the Shatterdome, so we thought we'd try looking for your family."

"Easier said than done, doc," Raleigh said. "I know where my uncle is, but I couldn't tell you how to get in touch with Jazmine or my dad."

"You know, I probably should've thought of contacting your uncle before I dragged myself through yellow pages," Sonia laughed. "But, I did manage to find your sister."

Raleigh's expression brightened. "You—you found Jazz?"

"Yep, only it's Jazmine Washington, now. She's married and working at a bakery. Also, she's coming here."

"When?"

"I don't know, her husband hasn't gotten in touch with me yet, but I definitely think she's going to show up," She assured him. Raleigh sat back gingerly in the wheel chair, flabbergasted. Stepping behind him Sonia began to wheel him out of the room. "I can't believe you guys found her," He said. "I don't know what to say."

"Thank you works just fine, Raleigh," Sonia reminded him as they approached the elevator. "Listen, so far as I know, I don't think your brother is going to be awake. If anything, he'll be out from the anesthesia and intubated, so don't expect a conversation."

"I won't, I just need to see him."

* * *

The ride up on the elevator was quiet for the most part. Raleigh kept to himself and Sonia appeared content with the silence, only occasionally tapping her nails against the bars of the wheelchair to signify some type of impatience.

The doors opened on the third floor, Sonia rolled them out of the elevator down the hall. Raleigh had to remember to breathe as she ferried him through the hall into the room where his brother was currently resting. The sound of the EKG reached him before anything right in front of him registered; the odd hiss and exhale of the ventilator, the smell of cleaning product and baby powder.

Standing on the right side of the bed was Veronica, Dr. Flanagan. She looked up from the bed with a mildly haggard expression. She raising her hand away from its spot on his brother's bed and wiped her face of tears he didn't even notice. "Hey, what are two you doin' up here?" She asked.

"Raleigh's got a date with the Shatterdome, so he wanted to see his brother before he left," Sonia explained, rolling him up to the bed. "See? He's fine." Raleigh stared at his brother. There was nothing particularly 'fine' about what he was seeing in front of him. His brother was motionless, not exactly unnatural for him given how he slept, but there was a vacancy about him. His face wasn't that of a content Yancy that took three attempts to wake up. He wasn't there.

Even when they weren't connected, Raleigh could feel his brother whenever he was nearby. It was a tick, a wheel in his head that moved in succession with his and his brother's emotions. Right now he was getting nothing. If it weren't for the fact he could see the rise and fall of his chest in succession of his monitored heartbeat, Raleigh would've assumed his brother was dead. "What's wrong with him?" He asked.

Veronica blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You're saying he's fine, but… he doesn't feel fine," Raleigh said. "I know that sounds weird-"

"No, no, it doesn't sound weird, I get what you're saying," Veronica said. "Uh, we managed to repair his sutures and cleaned up the infection. But, during the surgery he lost more blood, and he lapsed into a coma."

"How do you know he's in a coma?" Raleigh asked.

"So far, he hasn't been responsive to any of our attempts to wake him up, and one of the signs of a coma is when a patient fails to respond to any kind of stimuli, especially the painful type," Veronica explained. "So, he's stable. But we don't know when he'll wake up."

"You mean if?" It was always 'if' with doctors, especially the ones who were too afraid to say what they meant. Veronica looked him square in the eye; were it not for the puffiness of her eyes, Raleigh might've been intimidated. "Not if, when," She reiterated. "Contrary to belief, comas don't last for years and years-"

"Not the bad ones anyway," Sonia interjected.

"Sonia, you're not helping," Veronica deadpanned. "I probably shouldn't be saying its temporary-"

"Then why are you saying it?" Raleigh's voice was hoarse.

Veronica watched him watching his brother, eyes rimmed with tears. Her tongue felt dry against the top of her mouth as she tried to formulate a response. "Because I don't want it to be, for your sake," She said. "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure he is cared for until he wakes up."

"That's it? That's all you can do?" Raleigh asked, his face puffing up with telltale signs of anger.

Veronica nodded solemnly. "Yeah, unfortunately."

Raleigh didn't look away from his brother. "Could you guys give me a second? Please?"

"Sure, take your time," Sonia thought to give the man a squeeze of the shoulder, but backpedaled when she saw the bandage. She walked away from the wheelchair and followed Veronica outside the room. "Nice pep talk there, doc."

Veronica shot Sonia a bitter look. "I thought I was doing alright before you cut in," She shot back.

"I'm gonna disagree," Sonia reply. "Also, "I don't want it to be, for your sake"? And the waterworks?" Veronica bristled at Sonia's imitation of her voice when reiterated her words. "Is there anything you're not telling me about this case?"

"No, I've got nothing to hide from you Sonia," Veronica answered, eyes shifting to the right.

"See, I would've bought that, if you hadn't done that," Sonia said. "Is this about what happened the other day? About Mike?" Sonia made a grab for the chain around her neck. Veronica smacked her hand to the side and stepped away. Sonia watched her friend's expression shift from annoyed to guilty as she moved further away from the door. "I knew it, was he here?"

"It's nothing, Son."

"Veronica!"

"Okay, he was here, half an hour ago," Veronica said after a moment. "He just wanted to talk, that's it."

"You mean like the last time?"

In the beginning, Sonia might've been kept pushing forward with her anger. Since Veronica returned to her in Anchorage, Sonia had been nothing if not content to drag Mike's name through the mud with her anger.

But she realized that wasn't getting her anywhere and doing her friend's state of mind no favors in the beginning… or now, really. "Veronica, you have to talk to Denise," She said. "You can't just keep having him come around and around like this. This isn't good for you or- or him."

"I will, Sonia," At her friend's disbelieving look, she added, "I swear on my undead mother's future grave."

"Your mother would be ashamed of you," Sonia retorted.

"She's done worse," Veronica mumbled, looking down at her feet. The two lapsed into silence. Sonia kept her attention on the fidgeting woman in front of her, restraining her pity for someone who needed it. "Look, you were telling him the truth? Everything went fine in surgery?"

"Aside from the blood loss, yes," Veronica answered. "He hadn't even really recovered from the first time, so this outcome wasn't all that of a surprise. But, I'm positive he'll be okay."

"Does Anspaugh agree?"

"He's a little more pessimistic about his chances, but, yeah. More or less," She said. Sonia let lose an exasperated sigh. They walked back into the room. Raleigh was sitting in the same position they'd left him in. He looked up from his brother's bed, Sonia's smile warmed him for a moment before his eyes fell on Veronica. The woman looked as ragged as he looked. "So, you ready to go?" Sonia asked.

"Sure," Raleigh nodded. "Hey, doc?"

"Yeah?" He almost laughed at how high eyebrows went up when he addressed her.

"Did you know…?"

"Did I know what?" Veronica walked toward his chair as Sonia wheeled him toward the door. "Raleigh?"

Raleigh shook his head. "This is gonna sound crazy, but, did you know my brother?"

"No, this is the first I've ever met either of you face-to-face," She answered. "Why?"

"You looked at him like you knew him," He said. Sonia gave her a friend a sidelong look, one she was content to ignore.

"Well, if I know him, it's because you're famous. But, no, I've never met your brother before your accident," Veronica elaborated.

"Huh. Accident," Raleigh didn't smile that time. "I'll see you later. Take care of my brother." Veronica didn't say anything to him. She watched Sonia and Raleigh depart for a moment before leaving the room herself in the opposite direction.

* * *

When the helicopter arrived, Raleigh was sitting in his wheelchair wrapped in a blanket and a down jacket Sonia borrowed from one of nurse friends. Sonia stood next him, a beanie cap pulled down on her exceptionally straight hair which rest on her shoulders.

Peeking from behind the faux-fur trimmed hood on his head he began to wonder if the curly hair he'd seen her with was fake or if this was the wig. It wasn't polite to ask either way. They braced themselves against the harsh winds thrown about by the propeller as it landed. Sonia ducked behind him, grouching about wet hair and snow.

She pushed the wheelchair toward the helicopter with her head down as one man, dressed in combat gear with gun hanging off his back, stepped out to greet them. "Need a hand?" He shouted over the rotor. Sonia nodded, grabbing hold of her beanie for dear life when she felt it slip. The Strike Trooper and Sonia helped Raleigh into the helicopter.

Careful of his ankle, they situated him next to the window and propped his leg up on the seat across from him. The collapsed wheelchair was placed in the middle and laid against the seat where his foot rest. Once Sonia and the Strike Trooper boarded the helicopter departed from the hospital. The ride to the Shatterdome was fairly long, long enough for Raleigh to realize he wasn't sure what was going to happen once he got there. No one had told him anything about their situation, about Gipsy. The Marshal was undoubtedly doing damage control. That was par for the course after every fight.

No matter how many lives were saved, property damage or the loss of someone was going to be something the public or the media wanted the PPDC held accountable for. He and Yancy managed to save those men, but they were sure to catch flak from the Marshal for disobeying his orders. The question was how badly were gonna reprimanded and if they would be any punishment. He cast a glance toward Sonia, she was pretty caught up in a conversation with the Strike Trooper, who was more than a little receptive to her presence.

A half hour later the helicopter landed. Half sleep, Raleigh slid himself across the seat toward the edge. Sonia and the Strike Trooper helped him out of the helicopter and back into the chair. He felt his skin prickle with embarrassment as the environment of the Shatterdome moved to the forefront of his mind. Moving vehicles, on-deck workers and K-science eggheads, they were all moving to and from under their mobility, some of them only stopping if they recognized them. "Wow," He heard Sonia say as she wheeled him across the wet deck. "Never thought I'd see a place as busy as Jersey again."

"Jersey? You from the East Coast?" Raleigh asked as they entered the elevator.

"Born and raised," She sounded terribly proud about that. "It kinda makes this situation ironically awful, when you think about it."

"This situation?"

"The Kaiju," The Strike Trooper replied. Raleigh made a little 'oh' with his mouth then frowned.

"Exactly, the disasters usually hit the White House first and then the golden gate bridge," Sonia explained. "That's how it worked in the movies."

"You guys feelin' left out?" The trooper made a face.

"Hell, no, I'm glad they're not in the Atlantic," Sonia retorted.

"Yeah, I figured. A lot EC's don't know what it's really like for the West Coast living with monsters, never knowing when they're going to be attacked or lose their homes. No offense, doc."

"Uh, I'm a nurse, actually, but, no offense taken," She replied. "What's your name?"

"Joe Mitsurugi," He replied, removing his helmet to tip it to her. "Nice to meet you, nurse-"

"Sonia. Sonia Jimenez," She grinned. Raleigh sat between the two with a look of disbelief. Was she really flirting with this guy right now? The elevator descended eight floors down before stopping on the medical floor, the ninth floor. When the doors opened a woman in a white lab coat was standing before them, hands clasped in front of her. Raleigh recognized woman's scarecrow figure and rectangular glasses immediately. "Raleigh Becket, good to see you're safe and sound," She said.

"Dr. Lightcap," He nodded.

"Miss Jimenez, if you just follow Dr. Lightcap, she'll show you where you need to go," Joe stepped back further onto the elevator as Sonia pushed Raleigh over the threshold of the medical wing. The doors closed behind them with a whoosh of air. Already, Sonia was beginning to feel the telltale signs of heat prickling around her neck from the scarf wrapped around it. "Follow me, please," Caitlin lead them down the wide corridor aligned with rooms, full of busy doctors and nurses or vacant with no immediate purpose at the moment. Sonia let out a low whistle of appreciation. "This place looks like the set of Star Trek," She commented. "The old one not the one with the lens flares."

"I wouldn't know," Raleigh said. "I'm more of a Star Wars fan."

The trio entered into a spacious room that's set up wasn't terribly dissimilar from that of a M.R.I. Only instead of a large scanner, there were six chairs lined up against the wall and in the center of the room an island with as many Pons helmets. Caitlin situated herself at the desk behind the glass for a moment, tapping what both Raleigh and Sonia figured were important commands, before turning around and pointing to the doorway that lead into the other room.

"When I heard about your incident, I knew it was only a matter of time before I got a call from Pentecost," Caitlin said. "There aren't a lot of cases like yours, Mr. Becket, and I'm glad you lived to tell the tale." She paused to regard the pilot. He was sitting lower in his seat, his eyebrows had come together to express underlying distress (or was it anger?). His hands gripped the arms of his chair like his life depended on it. Sonia moved from behind him and stood beside him. "What exactly do you plan to do with him?" She asked.

"Nothing invasive, he just has to wear the Pons and I can either monitor what his brain is telling me here-" Caitlin walked over to a large white screen that illuminated the moment she stood in front of it, "-Or watch it from behind that station there, if only to limit distractions."

"There's no radiation involved?" Sonia wanted clarification.

"None, he's- we're perfectly safe," Caitlin assured her. "Do you have any other questions, Mr. Becket?"

"Could you scan my brother?"

Caitlin blinked then looked to Sonia. "What is the status of Yancy?"

"Comatose. There was some complication in surgery and he hasn't regained consciousness since then."

"Why was he back in surgery?"

"A side injury's sutures reopened and managed to get infected," Sonia elaborated. "We've dealt with it. The rest is, unfortunately, up to him. We can't wake him up."

Caitlin nodded understandably. "Well, unfortunately, Raleigh, we can't move the equipment from this facility, so if we were to scan your brother, it'd have to be here."

"But you can scan him?"

"It's not impossible-" At the look of relief on Raleigh's face, she continued. "I've actually wondered if we could use the Pons to interface with a comatose patient. Is he stable?"

"He's getting there, but I don't think it'd be wise to move him right now. He's only two days out of surgery."

"Hmmm…" Caitlin got a faraway look in her eye. "Anyway, let's get you set up. Since you're sitting down, we've only to hook you up." Sonia moved to help him out of the jacket while Caitlin prepped the Pons. Raleigh kept his eyes focused on anything but the sight of his arms as they slid from the jacket and were laid bare. Sonia draped the jacket on her arm and looked to Caitlin. "Does he need to remove his shirt?"

"No, there's no need for any of that just yet," Caitlin replied. She approached the island and picked up a Pons helmet. "Okay, Mr. Becket, just relax, and I'll do the rest from here," She told him with a smile. Raleigh nodded despite his uncertainty. The Pons helmet fit snugly on his head, bringing back memories when he and Yancy first went through the compatibility test. "Okay, if it's alright with you, I'm going into the room to monitor this," Caitlin said.

Raleigh looked to Sonia. "Can she stay with me?"

"Sure," Caitlin smiled.

Sonia watched her leave the room. She raised her eyebrows in curiosity while Raleigh offered a small smile. "I like your company," He said. Sonia reached over and curled a finger under the pilot's stubbly chin.

"If I had a dime for everytime a guy told me that," She said. Below them the low hum of a machine vibrated through their feet, Raleigh watched the screen situated above him begin to map out a schematic of his brain not unlike an MRI scan.

"Alright, Raleigh, I need you to remain absolutely still, okay?" Caitlin's voice rang over the loudspeaker.

"Kay," Raleigh kept his head in position.

Raleigh wouldn't know what to look for if there were abnormalities in what he was seeing. Sonia seemed to regard the visual in front of her like she knew what she was looking for, and he figured he should stop thinking of nurses as assistants with little to no medical training. Lowering his gaze, he asked, "You got any siblings, Sonia?"

"Just one, Dominick," She said. "A real pain in the ass."

"Yeah, older or younger?"

"Younger," Sonia replied. "He used to run around with a bad crowd, but got himself together in the end. He teaches at a middle school in Jersey."

"Cool."

"I thought so," Sonia replied. "So, what about you?"

"You already know my brother."

"No, I mean, did you have a job or any plans before the Kaiju?"

"Not particularly. I dropped out of high school so I could pilot with my brother. I did work at Sports Authority for a couple months before my mom got sick," He said.

"You didn't even think about a college?"

"Only that I would end up going there- until the Kaiju came. I was never really was big on thinking about the future."

"Fly by the edge of your seat kind of guy?"

"Definitely, and I was a kid. I just wanted to be close to my family."

* * *

(March 12, 2020)

Strapped safely into a harness on the mobile platform leveled at Gipsy Danger's head, Tendo Choi had more than enough to think about. Since her return, Gipsy Danger had been undergoing managed repairs. Most of the work relied solely on trying to repair the frayed armor and getting rid of what couldn't be saved. They couldn't do anything else before they could get around it to proper fix the interior system. As they worked little pieces of her would fall away from her body, like she was rotting from the inside out.

The prognosis for the American Jaeger was not looking any better as the week rolled on, especially after the visit from Kreiger.

While he was working, he watched Stacker and Kreiger talking from the catwalk across from Gipsy Danger, dread pooling in the bottom of his stomach. Kreiger had more than a little say in what happened with the Shatterdomes, and his sway with the United Nations, if he wanted to, Gipsy Danger would be in Oblivion Bay before anyone could mount a protest.

Tendo had a feeling that was where the road was going to end anyway.

"Hey, Elvis! How's the view from up there?" Switching off the blow torch, Tendo stepped away from the gaping hole in the lady's head and moved toward the platform's railing. Right below him Alison stood below him, wearing a hardhat, goggles and headset. Adjusting the microphone so that it was in front of his mouth, Tendo flashed her a smile. "Afternoon, m'lady, what brings you back here?" He asked.

"Power cells, you said something about them needing to be removed, last time?" Alison said. Tendo looked to the only arm remaining on Gipsy Danger. Suspended by a dozen or so cables, the arm's Plasmacaster was separated, ready to be dismantled for repairs. The power cells, twelve altogether, sat in a row on another platform below the arm, ready for pick up. Looking down at her Tendo gave her a thumbs up. "You bet, they're all ready for you, babe, just give me a second," He said.

"No, it's okay, I'll just use the other platform to get them, you keep working," Alison tried to raise her voice over the whining metal of the Jaeger shifting on its suspension cables. "How's she looking?"

"Bad, same as last time," Tendo replied. "Everything's mess, Al, you wouldn't believe what the pod looks like this close."

"Really, bad, I guess?" Alison gave her boyfriend knowing look. Everything he wasn't saying was expressed in the shadows and dirt on his face. "You gonna be okay? Maybe you should take a break."

"I'm fine! I just need to get this section done and I'm finished for the day," Tendo said. Flipping the protective mask down on his face, he switched the blowtorch back on and continued working away on the armor. Below him, Alison moved toward the control panel of the platform holding the power cells.

The cells would have to be discarded once she got her hands on them. There was no telling what kind of damage they had, internally speaking, after the Plasmacaster was set on overload. Six of them had been fried beyond recognition. The other two exploded the moment they separated stigma from the hand. Adjusting the helmet on her head, Alison grabbed the lever and pulled down.

* * *

In the quiet of the Nurse's lounge, Veronica, Angel and Chloe sat together to eat lunch. Things at the hospital had slowed down considerably, but the excitement among the faculty remained the same. There were Jaeger pilots in the hospital, and now one of them was awake. Raleigh had returned from the Shatterdome checkup fairly talkative, but just to Sonia.

Had no particular grudge against Chloe or Angel, he'd interacted with them the least, but took a particular hardline stance of silence against Veronica. She knew, with her particular involvement with the recovery of him and his brother, Raleigh likely blamed her for the state he was in. It was irrational and she understood, albeit mildly, where he was coming from, but it still bothered her.

"You know, you should try these tater-tots, they're really good."

"No thanks, Chlo, I'm not in the mood."

"Rough night?" Angel inquired.

"More like rough couple of days," She grumbled, stealing a tater-tot from Chloe's plate.

"I don't get it. I thought the surgery went well?" One way Angel tended to exhibit interest in his friend's personal issues was how he leaned in close to you. Veronica adjusted herself in her seat as he settled close to her side and reached over to steal a tater-tot from Chloe. Chloe moved the plate out of his path. "No, you've already had six," She said. "Anyway, what Angel said. "Didn't the surgery go well? Anspaugh didn't suggest I try to clear the entire board, so I assumed everything was green."

"It did. It went exceptionally well. We cleaned him up and fixed his sutures, moved him into recovery."

"So what's the problem?"

"That was three days ago. He's still unresponsive to any attempt to wake him, won't even flinch when someone's talking to him. Do you know the look his brother gave me when I had to tell him his brother was in a coma?"

"Was it was a stabby-face?"

"Chloe, don't joke," Angel chided.

"No, it's fine Angel. Yes, Chloe, it was a stabby face. I save his brother from dying, but land him a coma."

"I thought Dr. Anspaugh said it was the blood loss?" Chloe said, popping another tater-tot into her mouth.

"He did, he's not wrong. I just feel responsible. And I don't have an answer for when he'll take wake up."

"I don't think anyone is expecting you to, Veronica," Chloe said.

"Raleigh does."

"Well, Raleigh's family, he is going to be irrational about this," Angel reminded her. "None of this is your fault, he can't blame you- I mean, he can, but it won't make his brother wake up any faster."

"I guess," Veronica leaned back in her chair. Her eyes, sunk and rimmed with the shadow s of sleep deprivation, closed for a moment before reopening. "I think I'm too close to this."

"You're just tired, Ronnie," Angel rubbed her shoulders. "And your patient is being a pill because he's worried about his brother."

Veronica leaned into his touch with a sigh. "You're right, you're absolutely right," She rolled her shoulders and sat upright. "Where's Sonia?"

"Her shift ended a couple hours ago, so she's probably at home skyping with Nick or watching more _How to Get Away with Murder_ ," Chloe replied.

"Oh, I love that show," Angel crooned, a smile on his face. "The third season is the strongest, I think."

"I've never seen it, is it really that good?" Veronica inquired.

"Second only to Scandal," Angel said. "Michaela's is my favorite."

"I guess I'll give it a try," Standing up from the table, Veronica stretched her arms over her head. "Okay, I've gotta get going. I'll see you later, yeah?"

"It's a small hospital, so, yeah, pretty much," Chloe grinned.

* * *

(March 13, 2020)

You never know what the day brings until you live it. Sonia had left work with a relative pep in her step despite the somber undertones of the evening that followed her visit to the Shatterdome.

Raleigh's early diagnosis had been "troubling, but for reasons unrelated to any possible damage to the mind or brain" according to Dr. Lightcap. "I'll have to do more tests to be sure, but from what I can gather from your brain scan, Raleigh, whatever damage you sustained from the solo, it should heal. There's no real danger to your life."

She spoke vaguely, and vague concerned Sonia as much as it did Raleigh. On the way back from the medical wing, they had another hour to kill before the helicopter was ready to take them back to the hospital, so he asked if he could go to his room. Sonia had no idea where his room was so she let him lead the way after she'd got them lost on the elevator pressing a button without thinking when he made the request. Pilot bedrooms were far more modest than she originally thought.

There was barely any room to do anything except for walk from one side of the room to the other. They had a little kitchenette right across from their bed and a bathroom and closet on the left across from the end of their bunk bed. It was like a boarding room. Raleigh hadn't done much, just grab photo off the lowest part of the kitchenette wall. A picture of him and his brother in Amsterdam and his music player; they 'bonded' over their favorite artists, she laughed at the number of singers that she liked and he hated.

"I fucking hate Hootie and the Blowfish. I hate dadrock," and the way he said it ought to have made her angry, but she'd heard enough complaints of the same type to learn to ignore them. She just felt sorry for him. When they returned to the hospital he got quiet again, and she left him to his devices, more concerned with getting home and sleeping.

Crawling out of bed the following morning, Sonia had no real expectation other than to have a moderately nice day helping people. Sure, Nick hadn't called her in months and she was sore about that, but she tried not to let that spoil her day. Arriving at the hospital, Sonia parked her card just a block from the hospital and walked the rest of her way there. Again, she hadn't really been expecting out of the ordinary, maybe she would've run into Chloe or Angel on their way in, because God knows Veronica was likely living in the hospital instead sleeping at her shabby apartment in the city.

Instead, with her headphones around her neck and her music loud enough for everyone to hear, she'd been so caught up in the melody of The Naked And Famous, that she didn't notice the crowd that had gathered at the hospital entrance until one of the bodies literally ran into her. Sonia stumbled back down the slanted sidewalk, unsure how she missed them before. Reporters, a lot of them, and the woman carrying her baby, had run into her was looking for an out.

One of them pointed at her. "Hey, do you work here?" And the rest just seemed to turn in response, wondering the thing.

Oh, it was going to be one of those days. The woman looked her with wide blue eyes that struck her as familiar. "I'm looking for my brother, but I can't get in," She tried to say over the hustle and bustle. Sonia nodded and cast a glance over her shoulder. Grabbing her hand, Sonia hurried back in the opposite direction of the hospital entrance. Some of the reporters followed them, and being mindful of her precious cargo, Sonia was moving slower than she would've liked. Rounding the corner, she entered the hospital's alley and led her toward the door. Pulling her inside, Sonia shut the door behind her and slid the bolt in place.

Ignoring the muffled voices outside, she turned to face the young woman trying shush the baby in her arms. "What was that about? Did Birney Spears come here to die or something?" She grouched.

"I think it might have something to do with those pilots," The woman said.

Sonia raised an eyebrow. "Pilots?"

"You know, the Jaeger pilots that are supposed to be here," She said. "It's why I came."

"Who told the news about the pilots?!"

"I don't know, I just got here," The woman shrugged.

"Jaeger fly?" Sonia asked, deciding to get it out the way.

The woman shook her head. "No, we're related. I'm Jaz-"

"Jasmine Becket?" Sonia blurted, treading over her introduction.

"It's Jazmine Washington now, but, yeah," The woman, Jazmine, smiled nervously and pointed at her. "I didn't think I was famous."

"You're not- I mean, I'm Sonia, I was the nurse who called a couple weeks ago about your coming here," Sonia explained a bit too excitedly.

She extended her hand, Jazmine shook it without hesitation. "Thank you, Sonia, for contacting me," She said. "Do you know where they are?"

"Well, Raleigh, I'd say he's in his room, but around this time he's visiting his brother," She said.

Jazmine blinked. "You have Raleigh and Yancy separated?"

"C'mon, I'll take you to them," Sonia led Jasmine out of the stairwell up into the general population of the hospital hallway. Jazmine busied herself with adjusting the baby hanging in front of her, secured the carrier on her shoulders. In the light of the hallway, Sonia had a full view of her stomach, she was expecting another kid. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Sonia nodded toward the end of the hall in front of them where an elevator waited for them. "So, if you don't mind my asking, what've been doing while your brothers were saving the world?"

There was a look on Jazmine's face that suggested that wasn't the first time she'd been asked that kind of question. "Graduating from school, failing to start a business, meeting my husband, learning how to bake bread, the usual stuff," She said. "Oh, and having kids."

"They're cute, well, she is anyways," Sonia waved to the baby who looked at her surroundings in confused awe. Jazmine cradled her daughter's head and kissed her cheek. The baby made a face and pawed her mother's face. "And if you're wondering, I'm having another girl," Jazmine motioned to her stomach and Sonia shrugged. "I wasn't, but thanks for letting me know, I guess," She grinned. At the end of the hall, Sonia pressed the top button. There was a ding the next second and the doors opened. They stepped into the elevator and Sonia pressed the third button.

True to his nature, Raleigh had managed to find his way back to the third floor to visit his brother. Sonia walked into the room to find him distracted by the observation of his brother and the music of his headphones.

She couldn't make out heads or tails what he was listening to, it sounded screechy on the low setting, but that could've been a combination of the music and the machines in the room. She walked into his line of sight, drawing his attention away from his brother. Raleigh managed a small smile for her as he pulled his headphones down around his neck. "Sonia, hey," He said. "How've you been?"

"I almost got mobbed by reporters, if that's any indication of how my day is going to be," She said.

"Reporters-?"

"Yeah, I think we have a pair of loose lips in the hospital and now they know you're here," Sonia explained. "But that's not why I'm here."

"Why- what are you here for?" He asked. "It's not about Yancy is it?"

"You're like a broken record you know that, right?" Sonia said as she gestured to the doorway. "It's about your sister. Jazmine?" Sonia stepped away from the door as Jazmine entered the room, her daughter on her hip. Raleigh felt his mouth go dry at the sight of his sister, he glanced over at Sonia. She was looking terribly proud of herself.

"Jaz—Jazmine, hey, kid."

"Hey, Rals."

Jazmine hadn't gotten any gotten taller than she had when she finally hit sixteen, but there was no doubt in his mind that she'd grown up. Her tiny figure no longer resembled the gangly little girl's that used to trail behind him and Yancy, and the baby in the arms, staring at her mother like she was the greatest thing in the world, solidified that fact.

"You ready for this?" Sonia's voice sounded distant, but he responded all the same.

"No… but I'll manage."

Sonia watched the standstill between the two siblings, and sensing the familiar discomfort of family wounds, decided to excuse herself. "I've gotta check in. I'll be around if you need me," Sonia announced, rocking back on her heels.

Raleigh nodded appreciative. "Thank you, Sonia," He said. Sonia left, nothing but silence lingered between the youngest Beckets, barring the gurgling noises of the baby on her hip.

"You been taking care of yourself, kiddo?" Raleigh asked, breaking the silence.

The same exasperated look befell her face at the sound of their brother universal, and decidedly consenting, nickname. "It's Jazmine, Raleigh," She corrected.

"Right. Right, sorry. Residual from-"

Like second nature, they look over to Yancy. As though finally allowing herself to recognize the man in the bed, Jazmine's face falls. As if picking up on her distress, her baby squirmed uneasily in her arms and turned away from her oblivious cousin. One look at her brother's progressively sobering expression and she understands. Reaching out, she touched his face. Yancy didn't so much as flinch. "What happened?"

Forcing his voice past the knot in his throat, Raleigh went through the motions of explaining what he could remember about what happened to him and Yancy. Jazmine's attention wavered between him and Yancy, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Have the doctors said anything about when he might wake up?"

"No, they don't."

"Will he be okay?"

"…I dunno. I hope so," Raleigh ran a hand down his face. "We got really banged up, Jaz. I don't know what to do."

Well, Jazmine had nothing for him. No answers that would've made this better. She was having a hard enough time absorbing the fact that Yancy was lump of unresponsive muscles on a bed. They said nothing to each other for a while; Raleigh felt he owed it to his sister to get her head around their circumstance. And as he sat there, his eyes were constantly drawn toward the baby girl in arms, watching her motionless uncle with all the general disinterest of a baby who probably never get to know him for a long time. No, no, don't think like that, Raleigh. Yancy was going to wake up and soon; he wasn't going to be in a coma for an eternity, let alone months. Finally the baby looked in his direction. He smiled at her and raised a hand in greeting.

That made her laugh for some reason. Jazmine pulled her attention away from Yancy to regard her daughter then looked to Raleigh.

"She yours?"

"No, someone from NICU let me borrow her," At Raleigh's quizzical brow, she added, "Of course she's mine, Raleigh."

"Sorry."

"Her name's Linda. Linda, this your Uncle Raleigh, hi Uncle Raleigh," Jazmine raised her baby girl's hand and made her wave. Linda whined in objection, pulling her chubby arm from her mother's grasp. Raleigh's smile return, Linda hid her face against her mother's chest.

Jazmine gave him an apologetic shrug. "She's a little shy."

"It's okay. I'm not exactly a pretty sight. Her dad in the picture?"

"Yeah, Hoban's not going anywhere."

"Hoban?" Raleigh wasn't sure if he heard right. The image of some weird looking kid in a stripe t-shirt and broken glasses came to mind, which if he remembered correctly, wasn't his sister's type. Not at sixteen years old anyway.

"Okay, I know what you're thinking, but it's no worse than our names," Jazmine argued in her husband's defense.

Raleigh felt his breath catch in his chest. "H-hoban is worse," He tried to laugh. Jazmine's eyebrows knitted together. Raleigh hunched over in his wheelchair and pressed a hand to his chest as he began to cough. She cast a look over her shoulder, wondering if she should go and find the nurse that brought her to them.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Raleigh cleared his throat, ignoring the stinging in the center of his chest. "It just hurts to breathe sometimes. Just don't make me laugh." Jazmine made a mental note of his request before focusing her attention back on Yancy. She lowered her baby on the bed. Linda's legs collapsed under her and she flopped down with a little huff. She kept a firm hand on her mother's hand while it was still close, but paid little mind to lump she sat next to. "This guy right here is your other uncle, Yancy. He's sleeping right now, but he can't wait to see you," She said. Linda hummed and used her free hand to paw her uncle's leg a couple times.

"So, what brought you out of hiding?" Raleigh asked once he was sure he could speak without coughing.

"I wasn't hiding; I was living with Charles and his family in Nome all this time," Jazmine corrected him. "And I came because I was worried about my family."

"And 2019? Yancy and I got hurt pretty badly then, and you didn't come," Raleigh knew now wasn't the time throw salt into wounds that were liable to fester between them because of their separation, but he couldn't help it. He appreciated that his sister was here now, but at the same time, he couldn't fathom what made this situation any different than getting fried by an electric Kaiju.

"No one fucking called me, Raleigh," Jazmine snapped. "I'm here, right now. They contacted me and I came, Raleigh."

"And would you have come if they hadn't called you?"

Jazmine looked at him, disbelief clear as day in her expression. "Raleigh, I did not come here to fight with you," She said. "I get that you're sore, but now is not the time."

Raleigh said nothing for a moment. He stared down at his hands while Jazmine was content to fuss with her baby.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked after a moment.

"Shoot," Raleigh said.

"What were you doing that caused this happen?" Jazmine said, motioning to her brother. "Did he try to stop you when came up with this idea?"

"Who says the idea was mine?" He raised his head and looked his sister in the eye. "Yancy's the one who saw the boat. We just followed through with what we were both thinking."

"Yancy wouldn't do that."

"You don't know Yancy, Jaz," Raleigh stated as a matter of fact. "And we were thinking we could help those guys out. As far as know, we did."

Jazmine scoffed. "You call six missing people and four in critical helping them out?"

Whatever edge Raleigh felt he had over his sister diminished the instant she relayed that news to him. His face fell and he began to withdraw into his mind as it spun from the very idea. They had never stopped to check if the men had survived their ordeal with Knifehead. He hadn't been thinking of them at the time, or much of anything beyond getting away from the scene as quickly as possible while their hearts were still beating.

"Raleigh."

He took a breath. The flush of air into his lungs triggered the catch that had made him cough before. Feeling lightheaded, he tried to focus on his sister and not the erratic thumping of his heart. "N-no one told me- they're in critical condition?"

"It's all over the news."

"Six of them dead?"

"Their bodies are missing," Jazmine explained. "They were in area where they said KB contamination started. The assumption is that they're dead."

Raleigh leaned back in his chair and hid his face in his hands. The beat of his heart moved with the dip of his breath; every part of his body felt ready cave in on itself. This was not happening.

Jazmine watched him, not at all unsympathetic to what he was likely going through. Some part of her wished she hadn't said anything. "I, uh, it took a pretty penny to get out here from Nome. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Jazmine, I didn't even call you. The hospital did. I didn't even know you were coming until today," Raleigh said from behind his hands.

"Right."

"The last time we saw each other, we buried mom," Raleigh recalled.

Jazmine withdrew from Yancy's bed immediately. She slipped the backpack off her arms and prepared to return Linda to the cradle of its safety. "I'd rather not talk about mom or dad, if it's all the same to you," She said.

"It's not. It's really not. I don't know how to talk to you. You're angry with me and Yance, I don't know why."

"You don't know why? Are you serious, Raleigh?"

"You left, you left with dad. You never once contacted us after mom died. You changed your e-mail address, didn't give a forwarding address. We should be angry at you, not the other way around."

"You let me behind."

"What?" Raleigh balked.

"While you and Yancy were off playing hero, dad and I were dealing with mom. The doctors told her that she would get worse if she kept smoking. They said there was a chance she could go into remission if she stopped smoking."

"Jazmine, you and I both know there was no stopping mom, even if we tried to force her. What were we supposed to do? We had an obligation as Jaeger pilots to protect city, the world."

"And you had an obligation to your family, too," Jazmine snapped, her voice cracking. "You didn't have to be there all the time. You stayed away longer than should have. You were barely at the house."

"Jazz-"

"Instead you were yucking it up in front of cameras and fangirls. You weren't home!"

Before Raleigh could get an answer in edgewise, Linda began to cry. Jazmine rubbed her daughter's back in a circular motion, bouncing her every now and again in the hopes that it would calm her down. The two siblings remained apart from each other, separated by the bed their older brother lay in.

"What do you call what you and dad did?" Raleigh demanded, the edge in his voice unmistakable. "You call that being there for our family, Jaz?"

"Getting out while we had the chance," Jazmine answered without the slightest hesitation. "We left her to you, and it hurt, but we couldn't stay there anymore. I didn't want to watch her die and neither did dad."

"So you just left us, left mom," Raleigh spoke as though he hadn't heard her sister's explanation. Years of pent up anger and pain was rising to the top of his self-control. His head was pounding in tandem of his heartbeat. The physical pain he was beginning to feel in his side was unreal as he attempted to adjust himself in the seat. "No goodbyes, nothing. You have any idea what- what they did to us? What it did to mom?"

"I have an idea, yes," His sister replied. "It doesn't change anything."

"I think it changes a hellva lot," He paused. "Where is dad, Jazmine? Why are you here, and he's not?"

"He died. He died the first of the month before last. Cancer."

Raleigh said nothing. He bit back the bitter laugh on the edge of his tongue but did not stop the almost angry amusement that ran rampant in his head. Jazmine caught the mirth in his eyes and smiled just as bitterly as he felt.

"Ironic, right? We left to get away from cancer; it just followed him right to the end and he didn't know it until it was too late."

"How'd he get it?"

"Led poisoning," She said. "I don't know where he got it from, he never told me. Took it to his grave."

"So, it's just the three of us now?"

"No. Uncle Charles is still alive. We've got twin cousins from his marriage and my Linda."

Cousins, uncles; the whole idea of becoming something other than Yancy's younger brother, Jazmine's big brother, it baffled him. He'd never know them long enough (or at all) to really let either title stick, but it did little to diminish the shock of just how much had changed since they'd buried their mother and threw themselves into the Jaeger Program. No one waited for them, everyone moved on with their lives and it was like they were the only ones caught in a bubble of particular time and tragedy.

Sonia reentered the room, pretending to be none the wiser to what caused the rising voices she heard clear across the hall in the other room. Jazmine regarded her with a forced smile, one she returned with the usual professionalism of a resident nurse. "Okay, Mrs. Washington, Raleigh; visiting hours are up and Mr. Becket needs his rest," She said.

"Okay," Jazmine stepped away from the bed, cradling Linda protectively. "Will he still be here? At the hospital, I mean?"

"Definitely," Sonia smiled. "We're still got to go through some more evaluations with the Shatterdome, but other than that, Raleigh here is not going anywhere."

Jazmine adjusted Linda in her arms and nodded to Raleigh.

"Um, I'm glad you're okay, Raleigh," The tone of her voice was one part genuine, one part disingenuous. Maybe it was because he stirred up so much dust (and maybe for no reason). Either way, he nodded all the same.

"Take care of yourself, Jazmine," Was all he could bring himself to say.

The tiniest flicker of regret flashed across Jazmine's face before she left, Linda crying all the down the hall as she departed.

Once she was certain she was gone, Sonia allowed herself to exhale. "So, was that as unbearable as the usual family reunion?"

Raleigh said nothing.

"Raleigh?"

"Sonia I need you to tell me what happened to the people on that ship."

"I'm not sure, I-"

"Sonia, please. If you know anything-"

"Last I heard they were in recovery at your Shatterdome," Sonia relayed to him. "They're fine. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah?"

Sonia almost squeezes his shoulder, but instead placed her hand atop of his. "Yes. They're gonna be fine," She repeated. "I'm sure of it."

* * *

(March 14, 2020)

PR was always Stacker's least favorite aspect of his job as Marshal. Soldiering, strategizing, talking to people on the level, was something he could without the slightest exertion. Standing in front of a million flashing lights, microphones and pestering reporters on the other hand, it tended to bring back the awful anxiety from his school days.

Luna, she always shined under circumstances like this, Pentecost was lucky if he could mask the fact he clearly didn't want to be answering questions. Standing behind the big blue curtain of the conference room, he watched the room fill with reporters and camera men. He frowned at the sight of them.

"You know if you keep frowning like that, chances are you're going to end up with premature wrinkles," Kreiger joked. Stacker gave his former CO a sidelong look, not exactly irritated, but in no mood for jokes either. "Is this necessary? We didn't even have this big of a circus with a victory," He mumbled.

"You're right. The celebrations were much bigger," Kreiger said. "I understand you're trepidation, but the sooner this is over, the sooner we can get the important stuff in order."

"Yeah, sure," Pentecost nodded.

A man dressed in a black tailored suit stepped in front of the podium. The audience quieted and drew their attention toward the center of the stage. "Sectary General Dustin Kreiger, Marshal Stacker Pentecost, once again, good morning, sirs. People of media, we're here to address the incident which occurred February 29, 2020, with opening statements from the Sectary General and Marshal. Marshal Stacker Pentecost, sir?"

Stacker stepped forward as the man shimmied his way out of the spotlight. Dustin took his place beside Stacker on the left, nodded appreciatively to the man who proceeded to stand on the right of him. Stacker swallowed against the knot in his throat. The heat of the lights were already making him sweat, he just hoped it didn't show through his shirt.

"Thank you. Good morning," He began, establishing eye contact with the people before him. "February 29, 2020, K-Watch picked up movement from the breach midnight exactly. All relevant Information was forwarded to the LOCCENT and the determined category III Kaiju, codenamed "Knifehead", maintained a steady course toward the Alaskan Gulf, its assumed trajectory that of Anchorage.

Evacuation warnings were sent out through the city, civilians relocated to the shelters, and transportation and roads shuts down. Our assigned crew, Raleigh and Yancy Becket were alerted oh-two hundred hours once its target was confirmed to be Anchorage, and sent out in Mark-3 Jaeger, Gipsy Danger. In the gulf, they did not immediately engage Knifehead, but instead attempted to relocate a fishing vessel, the _Saltchuck_.

Beforehand, they were given express orders to ignore the vessel and deal with the Kaiju first. From data compiled from both K-Watch and LOCCENT, the Kaiju took clear advantage of their distraction and the Saltchuck was put in direct danger as a result of their actions. Communications were terminated prematurely by the pilots. Any advance warning that could've been given was cut off. Gipsy Danger was damaged severely and our pilots are presently hospitalized for their injuries."

The man stepped forward again as Pentecost stepped back and tried to collect his thoughts. "Thank you, Marshal Pentecost, sir. To remind of the ground rules before we open the floor to questions: The Marshal and Sectary General will take four questions, two from the local and two from international press. These questions will be taken in alternates." He paused, scanning the crowd. "Our first question will come from Kylie Kaillski of the Anchorage Press."

The woman in question stood from her chair and fussed with her pleated skirt. "Thank you. My question is for Marshal Pentecost. Sir, are you allowed to tell us the exact location and status of the pilots? For statement purposes?"

"According to our liaison, at least one of the Beckets, Raleigh, is awake and coherent. Yancy Becket underwent surgery to repair complications with a previous attempt to repair a critical injury on his left side. As for their location, they are being treated at Anchorage's Regional Hospital. With respect to their condition, we ask the press to respect their privacy until they're given the clear from the hospital itself."

"Thank you," Kylie said.

"Our next question will come from the Management Press Corps, Linda Morgan of the Manila Standard."

"This question is for Sectary General Kreiger. What is the extent of Gipsy Danger's damages? Will it be able to fight again? What about the Kaiju; is it dead?"

Kreiger stepped forward up to the podium. "Gipsy Danger sustained severe damages to the left side of its Conn-Pod, and body. From my understanding of the J-Tech reports, she lost her left arm, the pod was split in half, and one of the harnesses and feedback cradles lost, and the nuclear turbine was nearly compromised by the Knifehead's head. As for the Kaiju, Knifehead was confirmed killed on site by our sonar. We are currently in the process of retrieving what we can from the water for study and to stem the flow of Kaiju Blue. Does that answer your question?"

"Will Gipsy Danger be able fight again?"

"That isn't something we can determine at the present. We certainly hope so, but I won't make any grantees until I'm given a reason to by the J-Tech division."

"Of course, thank you, sir."

"Thank you, Sectary General. Thank you, Linda. Our next question will come from Joshua Barnes of the New York Times."

"Marshal Pentecost, first question to you. What can you tell us about the fishermen on the _Saltchuck_? Have they received treatment for the exposure to KB? Have you found the bodies of the other four?"

"Of the four men who were lost at sea; Murray Shields, Harold Rosen, Charles Norwood, and Izzy Dejon. Their bodies have not been recovered, their search is still ongoing. However, the six men who were in critical condition: Ike Cruz, George Havilland, Jake Croft, Obadiah Redfield, Derek James, and Gene Abel, all pass respectively within the week, the last dying the tenth of March last week. Their families have all been notified, and arrangements have been made for proper burial or cremation. There are no confirmed survivors of the _Saltchuck_."

A hush came over the crowd, one Stacker had already been expecting. In the corner of his eye he saw the moderator and Kreiger bow their heads, Kreiger primarily just to hide the frustration that crossed his face. Stacker kept his attention focused on the crowd as they scribed down notes and continued filming and snapping pictures. "Thank you for your time, Marshal," Joshua Barnes nodded a small thank you to Pentecost and sat back down.

"Thank you, Marshal. Thank you, Joshua. Last question will be from Clementine Everett of NHK."

"What do you plan to do about the pilots, Marshal Pentecost?"

"How do you mean, exactly? Do with them?" Pentecost asked.

"What I mean is a certain amount of responsibility is expected to fall on them on account of their actions. Will there be a disciplinary action taken for disobeying orders and terminating communications prematurely? Do the families of the _Saltchuck_ plan on pressing charges against them?" There was a murmur of agreement from other members of the press. Stacker watched them all with exasperation. This was the question they'd all been waiting for, obviously.

"Whether or not any of the families of the Saltchuck crew will take legal action against the Beckets or the Pan Pacific Defense Corps remains to be seen. However, the proper actions will be taken with regard to the Becket's disobedience, once all relevant information has been compiled."

"Well, what is else is there to say, really? If what you're telling us is true, they are responsible."

"That's for us to decide, Miss Everett," Pentecost kept his tone even. Stepping away from the podium, the moderator took his place and thanked the press for coming. Pentecost followed Kreiger off of the stage as the press began to depart and talk amongst themselves. Kreiger regarded the imposing Marshal with some trepidation. "Thought you were going to lose it there," He said.

"It'll take a little more than a self-righteous reporter to tip me off," Stacker sighed. "You got anything else you need me to do?"

"No, that was it. The chips are just gonna fall where they may at this point, nothing more we can do now except handle our own house," Krieger responded.

"Right," Stacker said. "Keep me posted on the media."

"Right, see you then," Krieger said. Pentecost barely gave any indication that he heard the man. Once he was moving, he was gone out the door before another word could be said to him.

* * *

(March 15, 2020)

By the time the press conference had aired, and fragments were shared through the general news media and social networking sites, Stacker Pentecost had a harder time moving as he pleased in Anchorage. Everyone wanted to ask the Marshal questions if he so much as appeared outside the walls of the Shatterdome, everyone wanted to know what he was going to with "the two pilots". He never answered them, it was none of their business.

He had one last place to visit before he returned to Japan for assessment. The Regional Hospital where Yancy and Raleigh Becket resided. A guy with his standing was hard to miss; even in civvies someone managed to pick "Marshal Stacker Pentecost" out in a crowd, it didn't help matters that he towered over most in a crowd. So when he went unchanged from his usual attire and on Kreiger's request, allowed someone to take him, figuring it would make for a faster getaway than driving himself.

Pentecost wasn't terribly worried about getting away, but he conceded nonetheless. The front of the hospital was busier than he would've expected, he spotted news station vans parked farther down the road, some he recognized from the conference, others he didn't. The car pulled into the parking lot. He stepped out and headed for the elevator. The trip to the third floor was brief, not a soul joined him inside the confined space on the way up.

The doors separated, opening to reveal a moderately busy hospital hall occupied by doctors and nurses preoccupied with their jobs. He approached the desk, eyes Angel who had a pencil in his mouth. He looked up from the crossword puzzle with the usual lazy expectance of someone who frequented a desk a little too much. "Can I help you?" He did nothing to hide his appreciation of the man before him. Pentecost put on a friendly smile and nodded down the hall. "Can you tell me where I might find Raleigh and Yancy Becket's rooms?" He asked.

"Are you family?" Angel asked, setting the pencil on the newspaper.

"I'm their commanding officer," Stacker replied. "Marshal-"

"Stacker Pentecost?" The nurse interjected without feigning false surprise. When Stacker nodded, Angel stepped out from behind the counter. "The PDDC said something about one of theirs coming to visit, but they didn't say who."

Pentecost followed the man down the hall. "I take it you've been informed on the nature of their injuries, sir?"

"Yes, a nurse, Sonia, I believe, reported to the Shatterdome with a Mr. Raleigh Becket and relayed the information needed before departing," He said.

"Yeah, she and Dr. Flanagan have been taking good care of them," Angel grinned. "Even if that's really PACU's job on this floor." Angel stopped at second to last door and pushed it opened. Pentecost took in the sight of his pilots in a wheelchair and bed-ridden, his jaw shifting. "Thank you-"

"Nurse Garcia," He said. "Friends call my Angel."

The Marshal smiled. "Thank you Angel, I appreciate what you and the hospital have done for us."

"Anytime, we're here to help," Angel headed back down the hall. Pentecost entered the room and closed the door behind him. Raleigh had yet to acknowledge his presence. His attention was completely transfixed on his brother who lay motionless on the hospital bed. Stacker felt remorse for the Beckets in that moment, even amid his frustration and anger. It wasn't long ago than he'd been on the side of that fence, watching and waiting for the recovery of Tasmin after the rescue of the famed "Daughter of Tokyo". Clearing his throat, he stood a little straighter. "Mr. Becket," He said.

Raleigh looks up, tears in his eyes. "Marshal, sir," Raleigh sat straighter in his chair and dragged an arm across his face to dry any evidence of tears shed. "I wasn't—what are you doin' here?"

"Raleigh, Good to see you're up," Pentecost rarely addressed anyone by their first names. Largely out of respect, and honestly what Raleigh assumed was a habit formed in the military. The Marshal's eyes shifted over to Yancy.

"Any changes?"

"How much do you know about what happened?" Raleigh asked.

"I know everything that was told to us by Miss Sonia," Stacker replied.

Raleigh shook his head. "Then you pretty much know everything, sir."

"And you?"

"We got second degree burns, concussions, lacerations, bruises. I got a broken ankle, nothing serious. Yance's got torn muscles and a broken leg."

"What his prognosis?"

"Dr. Flanagan tells me he'll recover, physically, but they don't know when he'll wake up. Have they told you anything else? I figure, you've been here long enough, they've been talking to you."

Stacker shook his head. "Sorry, my time has been spent elsewhere, particularly the Shatterdome."

Raleigh's demeanor shifted at the mention of the Shatterdome. He hadn't been thinking about it at all since he learned his of his brother's condition. Thinking back on the state of Gipsy Danger made his body ache worse than the dull throb in the back of his head. "Is Gipsy alright?"

"No, far from it," Stacker said.

"How bad?" Raleigh felt cotton mouthed just for asking.

"Bad, she'll be out of commission for a while. Which brings me to why I am here," If there was a chair, Raleigh was sure Stacker would've sat in it by now. As it was, he seemed content to pace back and forth, eyes ever focused on his bruised person.

Stacker Pentecost didn't make house calls. He asked about your health if you were sick or injured, but he never physically made appearances like the one he was making now. It didn't take a genius to know that his being here correlated directly to what happened to them. "Sir, look, before you say anything, I don't think you can you ground us any more than we did ourselves, sir," Raleigh said.

Pentecost gave him a look was neither amused nor angry. "That's besides point, Mr. Becket. My question is why'd you do it?"

"We thought there was a chance to get those guys out of harm's way," Raleigh explained without the slightest hint of regret. "I like to think we did what anyone would've in our position, sir."

"And, what about the communications, was there a malfunction, any reason you couldn't re-establish connection?"

Raleigh didn't respond.

"Mr. Becket, I asked you a question."

"Is it an order?"

"Yes."

"No, sir. We terminated communications because we knew you had ordered us not to attempt to a rescue in light of what we were supposed to be protecting. We thought our idea was the better plan of action."

"Are you aware that, because you terminated communications, we could not warn you of any immediate danger you were unable to pick up?"

"Yes, sir, but, that was chance we were willing to take."

"But it wasn't just your chance to take, Mr. Becket. You not only put yourselves at risk, but effectively endangered the lives of every single man on that boat."

Under the condemnatory gaze of his commanding officer Raleigh felt his skin prickle and his muscles spasm. "So, what? Either way, they were collateral damage? Expendable?"

"No, but your priority was to the city and the people living there."

"We intercepted the Kaiju and, as far as I know, saved everyone on that boat, plus the city. We made a judgment call, I expect even you understand that."

"That call was not yours to make, Becket. For all the speculation that this situation brings, the only certainty is that every single man on that boat is dead."

Whatever comeback Raleigh had prepared for Pentecost died and tumbled from his lips. He stared at the man with uncertainty, not sure he'd heard him properly. "What?"

"The last four men died last week," Pentecost clarified.

Bravado and self-righteousness knocked out of his being, Raleigh gaped like a fish, at a loss for words. "Sonia- she told me they were getting better. That they were- they were getting better."

"That was hope, but they took a turn for the worst. They wouldn't be first, and they won't be the last."

Raleigh continued to stare up at Pentecost, in shock. He really wanted to tell Pentecost a lair, but the man by his very nature was not one for deception, much less enabling people who lied to him for whatever reason. Rolling his tongue across the top of his mouth, Raleigh asked next, despite knowing the answer, "What was it?"

"KBC," Stacker replied. "And prolonged exposure to freezing water and temperatures."

For a moment they were quiet, Stacker gauging the deteriorating status of his injured pilot, Raleigh wandering deeper into his head, terrified of the truth that was looking him dead in the eye.

"…So, what are you going to do with us?" Raleigh asked after a moment.

"With the media as it now, the knowledge of your particular failure to follow protocol is going to put us in a bad spot. As of now, you've been suspended from active duty for disobeying direct orders and endangering the life of not only your partner, but the lives of those men," Stacker explained.

"There was no way we could've known what would've happened out there. It was judgment call."

"It was, and you judged the situation wrong."

Fuck you Stacker, was what he wanted to say to his commanding officer, the frankness of his words cut him so deep he wasn't sure if he had the strength not to lose control. "What are you going to do with us once we're out of here? Will there be a hearing?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Mr. Becket. In meantime, know that I'll make sure you're supported by the PPDC until we can find a place for you to stay, unless you've family who'll support you-?"

Raleigh thought of Jazmine for a moment then shook his head. "No, there's no one else, just me and Yance."

"Very well, I'll be in touch."

"Yes, sir."

Pentecost left the room. He left the door open on the off chance it was necessary. Starting back down the hall, he allowed the breath he'd been holding to leave his body. His muscles relaxed but the tension remained in his body. Angel looked up from his crossword puzzle and smiled.

"Marshal," He nodded. Stacker repeated the gesture in kind as his cell phone began to ring, the familiar jingle of "Message"* beginning. Raising one hand, he reached into his jacket pocket for his cell phone and answered on the third ring. "What is it?"

"Sensei-"

"Mako, now is not a good time," He said.

"I know, but I wanted to tell you, I passed the simulator test," Mako announced.

Pentecost allowed himself a small smile at the sound of her excitement. "Congratulations, Mako. I told you could do it, didn't I?"

"You did," Came the modest reply. "We can talk when you get back. I just wanted tell you that before I went to bed."

"Alright, pleasant dreams, yeah?"

"Yeah. …Thank you, Sensei."

She hung up. Pentecost returned his cell phone to his pocket and approached the desk. "Everything alright?" Angel asked.

"More or less," Pentecost sighed, casting a glance at the open door down the hall.

* * *

(March 16, 2020)

"Ronnie."

There were few things that could pull Veronica out of slumber brought on by something other than work. Wrapped tight in the sheets with a pillow between her legs and another under her head, Veronica lulled fitfully under the progressive tide of sleep, ready to forget the day and drag herself through the next. But, she knew by now that she would not be so fortunate. She felt her weight shift on the narrow space she called a mattress. A pair of callused fingers ran through her hair before resting on her shoulder.

"Ronnie."

Veronica felt her eyes open. She took a deep breath and rolled onto her back. Bleary eyes stared up into the dimly lit hospital room, taking in the sight of the blurry shape in plaid. "Mike," She spoke without thinking. He seemed to come into perspective the moment she uttered his name. Mike Callahan smiled down at her, thumb moving in lazy circles on her shoulder.

"Hey."

He was really here.

"Mike, hey," Groggy and a little light-headed, she sat up in the bed. His hand slid down her arm and rest on her hand. She gripped his fingers without a second thought, squeezing hard.

"Hey, Ronnie," Mike adjusted the hand in her grip. "You must've missed me."

"No—" She shook her head. "I mean, I have, but what are you doing here?"

"I'd say I lost my way, but you've been ignoring me, babe. Why?"

"I'm sorry," She apologized. "I really didn't mean to, but I've been busy with these kids. Jaeger pilots, they got hurt really bad- and-"

"And what, you don't have time for your husband anymore?"

"Mike, you're- by all rights you shouldn't even be here, having this conversation with me."

"Because you don't want to see me?"

"No, that's not it," She shook her head. "I mean, you shouldn't be here."

"But I am here, so what's the problem?" He scooted closer to her, watching as she tried to sit straighter on the bed.

Veronica didn't answer him right away. Her mind wandered back to the incident in "Hooker Donuts" with Trae Adams. The young man, scared out of his mind, but no less deadly, had shot a young woman – Deanna – in the back and killed her. She'd been in the wrong the place at the wrong time, preparing for a date with her then boyfriend, Chris Sands. She shot him dead in a hazy attempt to save her own life when he realized the girl he shot, that she'd been tending to, bled out. He followed her around for days, if not weeks on end, driving her mad. She still saw him sometimes.

Mike pressed the palm of his hands against her neck, the pads of his thumbs rubbing against his jaw. "Hey, I'm not him. I'd never ask you hurt yourself," The assurance in his voice sent something of a buzz through her. She watched his eyes flicker in light, and she leaned into his touch. "How do you know what happened?" She asked.

He smiled at her. "You told me, remember?"

"Oh. Right."

"You wanna show me these kids?"

"Well, I honestly can only just one."

"Is there is a visitor limit?"

"At this hour, yes there is, Mike. But, he's the only one that won't wake up if we're talking. The other one is kind've a light sleeper and on the second floor."

"Oh. I'll be quiet, promise," Mike winked. Veronica gave him a look that told him she was not in the mood for jokes. Climbing off the bed, she reasserted her grip on his hand and led him from the room. The trip to the third floor was relatively uneventful, which was the only thing she really was thankful about the night shift.

When they arrived in the PACU the empty silence of functioning machines and gentle beeps was all that greeted them. Veronica led Mike to one bed where a boy - a boy compared to him, anyway - lay hooked to a machine, oblivious to the world. Despite the state of him, she looked relieved to see him and kinda prickled at that. "This is one of them. His name is Yancy Becket," She explained. Mike stared over her shoulder, brow furrowed. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about him, but Veronica had never been drawn to particularly remarkable people. Especially if she married a Joe-blow like him. Still, if he looked at him from a certain perspective…

He nudged her. "I gotta say, Ronnie, this one kinda looks like me."

Veronica's nose scrunched up at the very idea. She stared down at the bruised face of Yancy then back at her husband. "Really?"

The way Mike rolled his shoulders as he shrugged suggested he wasn't totally sold on the idea himself, but he nodded all the same. "Yeah, kinda."

"Nah, I don't see a resemblance," She said.

"Well, I do," He grinned, resting his head chin on her shoulder. "So, I can kinda see why he's your favorite."

Her hand found its way at the top of his head. She gently ruffled his hair like a cat. "Mike, he's not my favorite."

"Then what is he?"

"Someone I wanna help because he needs it. His brother needs him, like I needed you."

"You still have me, babe," Though Mike's arms found themselves around her waist, Veronica couldn't have felt further from his body.

"No, I don't. Not like I want."

Mike kissed her check. "Not true," He pulled away from her and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To get a drink," Mike answered like his objective was evident. Veronica pointed to the right. "They're at the end of the hall."

"Right, be back," Mike left the room. Closing her eyes she focused on the ambient noises around her and her own heartbeat. Counting down backward, she tried to visualize the sound of the water at the edge of the shore where they used to spend most of their time as kids. She opened her eyes, nothing had changed. Reaching behind her, she grabbed an idle chair and pulled it up next to Yancy's bed. "I really have to stop talking to people in the middle of the night," Veronica sighed, settling into the chair.

"Hi, Yancy, it's your doctor, Veronica," She began. "You don't know me, we barely even talked-" She shrugged, "well, I talked, you passed out. Anyway, I'm not sure why I'm here specifically. I saw your brother talking to you a while back and it reminded me that you two aren't a separate issue. There were a lot of people I relied on like that before I came back home, people I still rely on like that, but I don't have a constant like you are for Raleigh.

"I'm drawn to that, I guess. Stability, even in its absence I know where to find it. I can't say I don't have anyone like that anymore; there's Sonia, Angel and Chloe, but it's not the same as a partner - a lifelong partner, you know? I thought Chris would be that person. For a long time, I figured- Chris is an ex, and very dead, by the way- I figured he would be the one to ground me, center myself, but then he died and I kind've found my way back to Mike. He's a constant, you know? We've known each other before we had teeth. We went to college together, graduated together. We practically planned each other's lives around the other. We even cheated on each other with other people, if you can believe that.

"But, then I almost lost him to car accident in 2010 and I realized I couldn't live without him. I didn't want to and I wasn't if I could help it. So we got to know each other again, we became friends and I coped with everything that just blew up in my face because I ignored so many problems. We even re-married - because we divorced before. 2013, just like he said. It was right after the first Kaiju attacked San Francisco; he was so afraid that he was gonna lose me, he just proposed out of the blue and I said yes. We got married in December at City Call, got drunk at Delaney's and the rest there is history. I still went to therapy, but I have to say that the last five years together were pretty fun.

"And then I lost him, to something completely out of my control. I'd barely been a PPDC liaison for a month and that happens. We'd just gone out to get takeout for dinner and ended up in the middle of an attack. We tried-" Veronica wiped face. Her eyes burned as she tried to refocus her gaze and look past the tears that clouded her vision. "

We tried to get into the shelter, but we couldn't get through the crowd. And everybody who didn't make it, they had to find someplace to… to hide, but we got separated. I couldn't find him, so I hid in the restaurant with this family until the fight was over. When I found him, he and a bunch other people had been rounded up in this office building the PPDC was working out of to separate the people affected by Kaiju Blue. If you weren't affected, you got a black tag, if you were, you got a blue tag and was isolated."

He was sitting in a room with a blue tag when I finally saw him. He told me I was gonna be fine and that he was sorry he let go of my hand." She paused again, eyes wandering across his still form. By that point, she couldn't see anything beyond her tears. "Except that it wasn't. He died and there was nothing I could to help him. I just watched. There's nothing left of him except his ring. Not even his clothes smell like him anymore." Another pause followed as she tried compose herself. "Yancy, I don't know when you'll wake up, but if your brother is anything to speak of, I know you can wake up because your little brother needs you."

* * *

(March 20, 2020)

With everything out in the open the world seemed to fall into a frenetic routine. The media's primary concern was either the Kaiju attack itself or the men who lost their lives in the exchange between Knifehead and Gipsy Danger.

Tendo and Alison worked tirelessly with the rest of the Shatterdome to repair and maintain what remained of the shining glory of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps.

Whether widely known or not, the question on everyone's lips was "what happened", what occurred in the Alaskan Gulf that torn asunder the one machine that was considered indestructible in the fact of a threat they could not afford to lose against.

Pentecost, run down and worn out from speaking on the matter left Anchorage to deal with the obstacle of the United Nations as they prepared for a flight to Japan. The only good thing about his departure was seeing Mako again.

Raleigh fell into his own little routine as a ward of the hospital for the time being. He moved to and from his bed when he was allowed and sat in front of Yancy and talked to him, music ringing in his ears.

"Hey, man, it's Rals."

Veronica, Sonia, Angel and Chloe seemed to dissolve around him, caught up in their own little concerns, but present enough to pay him some type of attention when necessary.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I wanted you to know that I'm sorry for what happened. All of it. It was a stupid idea, and we should've listened to Pentecost."

They were being looked after, that about all he could he say was happening.

"I saw Jazmine. She's all grown up with a husband and kids. It's crazy; I never expected any of that. I kinda always thought she'd still be little Jazz."

And all the while guilt gnawed away at him at the same pace that time crawled through the days.

"She hates our guts by the way. She only came because one of the nurses called her and asked."

Jazmine had yet to make a reappearance and there was part of Raleigh that didn't expect her to after their conversation.

"Say something… please?"

Maybe that was for the best.

Raleigh didn't want anyone seeing him crying over his own stupidity.

* * *

(March 30, 2020)

The following is an assessment of Gipsy Danger pilots, Becket, Yancy (and Raleigh) for Marshal Stacker Pentecost, commissioned by Sectary- General Dustin Kreiger.

Primary subject's name is Yancy Becket; he was assigned the rank of Ranger post academy graduation in 2017 and assigned to the Shatterdome in Anchorage August 2017 (permanent outpost); Los Angeles Shatterdome (temporary, six weeks); Lima Shatterdome (activation). Yancy Becket served three and half stable years as primary Strike Group detail in Anchorage and emergency deployments.

Pilot's Identification number is Y-DBEC_519.35-K, his date of Active Service was July 12, 2017. Pilot's current service status is inactive (dismissal) as of March 2020; reasons cited are disregard for chain of command, hopeful physical rehabilitation

Born November 7, 1995, eldest of three; Younger brother, Raleigh Becket [1998-; q.v., also an active-duty Ranger, INACTIVE circa MARCH 16, 2020], younger sister, Jazmine Washington (nee Becket); Parents Dominique (1966-2015) and Richard Becket (1976-2019). Entered Jaeger Academy at Kodiak June 2016, qualified the following year. Assigned with his brother Raleigh as Gipsy Danger's initial crew. First deployed October 17, 2017, killed Kaiju "Yamarashi" in Los Angeles. Beckets have a record of five confirmed kills under Gipsy Danger assignment as of March 2020.

During engagement with Kaiju "Knifehead," Conn-Pod was comprised, the Jaeger severely damaged. Beckets survived with major injuries; Yancy Becket hospitalized for exposure, blood loss, lacerations, damage to right and left arm and right leg; youngest Becket assumed solo control of Gipsy Danger, hospitalized for similar injures and exposure. Tested for neural overload, readout positive, but not life threatening. No lasting damage detected. Results gleamed from the brain scan requested by command suggest youngest Becket could pilot Gipsy Danger without right hemisphere assistance from lead pilot for longer. Drift trauma for eldest Becket cannot be determined at this point and time on account of coma.

Beckets were denied survivor benefits, ineligible on basis of "lack of contribution" outside the Jaeger Program (neither Becket was employed nor worked prior to enlisting); Marshal Pentecost's motion to rescind was overruled. Both have been dismissed for disobeying orders before engagement and failing to reestablish communication with LOCCENT.

The Beckets are skilled pilots; resourceful and able improvise in high-risk situations. However, disrespect for chain command is a reoccurring point of contention for PPDC higher-ups, their commanding officer included. Initial psych evaluations led command to believe Yancy Becket would tow the line, but recent reassessments reveal he is no more compliant than his sibling.

This concludes the assessment of Becket, Yancy and Raleigh.

* * *

**Next:** "Please stay for a moment" - Raleigh forgoes the rest of his rehabilitation and decides to leave the hospital. Veronica sets him up with Sonia on the eve of Nick's arrival in Anchorage. Jazmine attempts to reconcile with Raleigh a second time. Yancy regains consciousness six months after and on the eve of a Kaiju attack.


End file.
